  Species inhabiting urban environments experience enormous anthropogenic
stress. Behavioural plasticity and flexibility of temperament are crucial to
successful urban-adaptation. Urban free-ranging dogs experience variable human
impact, from positive to negative and represent an ideal system to evaluate the
effects of human-induced stress on behavioural plasticity. We tested 600 adult
dogs from 60 sites across India, categorised as high - HF, low - LF, and
intermediate - IF human flux zones, to understand their sociability towards an
unfamiliar human. Dogs in the HF and IF zones were bolder and as compared to
their shy counterparts in LF zones. The IF zone dogs were the most sociable.
This is the first-ever study aimed to understand how the experiences of
interactions with humans in its immediate environment might shape the responses
of an animal to humans. This is very relevant in the context of human-animal
conflict induced by rapid urbanization and habitat loss across the world.
