The Impact of Human Hunting Behaviour on the Evolution and Ecology of Land Mammals

Abstract

This paper demonstrates how human hunting has driven animal domestication and influenced the evolutionary trajectory of terrestrial ecosystems and organisms. It compares direct, selective hunting-a “super predator” signal that leads to rapid population decline and trait transformation - with indirect pressures spread through domesticated communities and wild partners, including vegetation and soil changes, greenhouse gas emissions, and pathogen transmission. The results of this paper emphasize the behavioral choices (compliance, sociality, constraint tolerance) and the welfare externalities and ecological costs of management dependence in the domestication process. The evidence also suggests that the benefits depend on the environment (such as biodiversity compatible with moderate grazing and agroforestry design). Welfare outcomes within the framework of the Anthropocene constitute a part of the human environmental footprint. The results proposed a practical comprehensive approach, which replaces single-indicator optimization with multiobjective design, while optimizing biodiversity, climate, productivity and welfare, and incorporating health monitoring into the human-machine interface of wildlife and livestock to prevent disease transmission. At the same time, it avoids selective hunting and reports animal-based indicators (such as temperament, lameness, avoidance distance) and ecosystem indicators to guide responsible management.