The hunting modes of human predation and potential nonconsumptive effects on animal populations

When seeking prey, predators adaptively deploy strategies coarsely divided into sit-and-wait, sit-and-pursue, or active hunting modes. Though the hunting modes of many predators have been extensively studied, the implications of the hunting modes of human (Homo sapiens) predation are not yet fully understood. We conducted an extensive literature review to document human hunting modes and explore the ways in which these modes may shape animal populations via nonconsumptive effects (NCEs) of human predation. Among 169 studies published between 1972 and 2020, we found that humans used 27 hunting tools among 19 different hunting techniques when pursuing terrestrial prey. Most accounts described humans as using the active hunting mode (58%; n = 139 of 241), followed by the sit-and-wait hunting mode (41%; n = 98 of 241), and finally the sit-and-pursue hunting mode (2%; n = 4 of 241). While non-human predators tend to be evolutionarily adapted to the use of just one hunting mode, humans showed profound plasticity by deploying all three hunting modes in pursuit of prey species from 34 taxonomic orders spanning six orders of magnitude in body size (from 27 g to 4400 kg). Considerable evidence has documented the vast number of ways in which humans directly impact the functioning of the natural world. Our research complements that work by demonstrating the indirect pathways by which humans may affect animal populations and the landscapes over which these interactions occur, via NCEs deriving from the hunting modes of human predation, with important implications for animal conservation.