Noisy environments are putting captive mammals off mating in zoos
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They may be a sanctuary for some of the world's most endangered animals, but noisy zoos could may be putting creatures off sex, scuppering hopes of populations bouncing back.
Noises of modern life - from traffic to mobile phones – may explain why animals such as the rhino are so reluctant to breed in captivity, zoologists claim.
Among the unfamiliar sounds which may put the animals off mating are the chattering humans who go to zoos to see animals that are dying out in the wild.
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Noises of modern life - from traffic to mobile phones – may explain why animals such as the rhino are so reluctant to breed in captivity, zoologists claim. Rhinos have sensitive hearing to detect potential predators and rival rhinos approaching their territory on the grassy savannahs of Africa. White rhinos are shown
Rhinos have exceptionally sensitive hearing to detect potential predators and rival rhinos on the grassy savannahs of Africa.
They can even pick up on the change in vibrations to the ground on which they roam because they can hear infrasound - low noises that cannot be detected by humans.
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But alien sounds heard in urban zoos affect this ability and may distress the animals enough to affect their natural mating behaviour, according to zooloogists at the University of Texas.
Do not disturb: Alien sounds in urban zoos may distress animals enough to affect their natural mating behaviour, according to zoologists. It is hoped that the study finding will lead to the development of sound-proof enclosures where animals will not be disturbed (illustrated) and may feel like mating
They say that sound is preventing the animals breeding more than poor habitats, diet or diseases in zoos and safari parks.
Rhinos are among the most difficult animals to breed in captivity. For example, only one rare Northern white rhino has ever been born in a zoo.
But captive breeding programmes are desperately needed, because an increase in poaching means wild populations could be wiped out within a decade. Three species of rhinoceros are already endangered.
Rhinos have one of the most sensitive hearing ranges in the animal kingdom, along with pandas, who also do not breed well in captivity, the experts told a US acoustic conference.
It is thought that giant pandas have especially sensitive when they are pregnant.
Lead researcher Suzi Wiseman and her team used sound detectors at a Fossil Rim Wildlife Centre in Texas to pick up noises like traffic and chatter that wouldn't bother humans but may upset a rhino.
Easily distracted: Rhinos have one of the most sensitive hearing ranges in the animal kingdom, along with pandas (pictured), who also do not breed well in captivity, the experts told a US acoustic conference
She said that the sound levels she monitored would be louder in urban zoos.
'We can go into some zoos and think, this is delightfully quiet - but it might be that some animals don't think it's quiet at all, because urban areas have a lot of chronic infrasound,' she said.
The findings could be used by zoos to adapt enclosures with soundproofing and other methods of drowning out any man made noise that can be heard in enclosures to boost the chances of animals mating.
'The soundscape is something that zoos need to consider and it's something that can be improved,' she added.
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