News Anthropology

Hunting boosts lizard numbers in Australian desert

Reptiles prefer to live in places aboriginal people have burned

HELPING FLAMES Lizards called goannas (Varanus gouldii) live in the desert of Western Australia and have larger populations where indigenous people hunt.

© John Sullivan/iNaturalist.org

By Jessica Shugart

- More than 2 years ago

The presence of humans rarely improves the lives of neighboring species. Yet a study shows that indigenous Australian hunters create prime habitat for a desert-dwelling lizard.