phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:3469 DOI 10.1093/cz/zoae023 Urbanization does not affect red foxes' interest in anthropogenic food, but increases their initial cautiousness Human presence and activities have profoundly altered animals' habitats, exposing them to greater risks but also providing new opportunities and resources. The animals' capacity to effectively navigate and strike a balance between risks and benefits is crucial for their survival in the Anthropocene era. Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), adept urban dwellers, exhibit behavioral plasticity in human-altered environments. We investigated variations in detection frequency on trail cameras and the behavioral responses (explorative, bold, and fearful) of wild red foxes living along an urbanization gradient when exposed to a metal bin initially presented clean and then filled with anthropogenic food. All fox populations displayed an increased interest and similar explorative behavioral responses toward the anthropogenic food source, irrespective of the urbanization gradient. Despite no impact on explorative behaviors, foxes in more urbanized areas initially showed heightened fear toward the empty bin, indicating increased apprehension toward novel objects. However, this fear diminished over time, and in the presence of food, urban foxes displayed slightly reduced fear compared with their less urban counterparts. Our results highlight foxes' potential for adaptability to human landscapes, additionally underscoring the nuanced interplay of fear and explorative behavioral response of populations living along the urbanization gradient. eng Vulpes-Vulpes; Human Disturbance; Urban Foxes; Wildlife; Availability; Neophobia; Neophilia; Evolution; Responses; Bolder 2024-09-03T07:54:03.603Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Lazzaroni;Martina; FN:Martina Lazzaroni X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7030-8703 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Brogi;Rudy; FN:Rudy Brogi X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2326-600X END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Napolitano;Valentina; FN:Valentina Napolitano END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Apollonio;Marco; FN:Marco Apollonio END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Range;Friederike; FN:Friederike Range X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3127-5536 END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 application/pdf 3647486 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3469 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:3469/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline