List of large carnivores known to prey on humans explained

This is a list of large carnivores known to prey on humans.

The order Carnivora consists of numerous mammal species specialized in eating flesh. This list does not include animal attacks on humans by domesticated species (dogs), or animals held in zoos, aquaria, circuses, private homes or other non-natural settings. Prey is defined as "to be hunted and killed by" or "to be vulnerable to or overcome by."^[1] An idiomatic (rather than ecological) definition is preferred here because although, statistically, attacks on humans by wild carnivores are an extremely rare cause of death—even in regions with high levels of human-wildlife interaction and relatively high absolute numbers of attacks^[2] —the topic remains one of great fascination^[3] to contemporary humans unused to or uncomfortable with being vulnerable to the larger food web.^[4]

Documented carnivore attacks on humans do appear to be increasing in frequency^[5] for a variety of reasons including human population growth, animal habitat loss, and declining populations of traditional prey species.^[6]

List

Animal common name	Animal scientific name	Location of fatal attacks (continent)	Location of fatal attacks (country, region)	Article
scope=row	American black bear^[7] ^[8]	Ursus americanus	North America	Canada, United States	Bear attack
scope=row	Brown bear^[9] ^[10] ^[11]	Ursus arctos	Asia, Europe, North America	Italy, Canada, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Krygyztan, Mongolia, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, United States, Yugoslavia	Bear attack
scope=row	Coyote^[12]	Canis latrans	North America	Canada,^[13] United States	Coyote attack
scope=row	Dingo	Canis dingo	Australia		Dingo attack
scope=row	Golden jackal^[14]	Canis aureus	Asia	India
scope=row	Grey wolf^[15]	Canis lupus	North America, Asia	Afghanistan, Canada, China, Estonia, France, India, Iran, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, United States	Wolf attack
scope=row	Jaguar^[16]	Panthera onca	Central America, South America	Brazil^[17]
scope=row	Leopard^[18]	Panthera pardus	Africa, Asia	India, Nepal, South Africa, Uganda	Leopard attack
scope=row	Leopard seal^[19]	Hydrurga leptonyx	Antarctica
scope=row	Lion^[20]	Panthera leo	Africa, Asia	Tanzania, Zambia	Lion attack
scope=row	Cougar^[21]	Puma concolor	North America, South America	Canada, Chile, United States	Cougar attack
scope=row	Polar bear^[22]	Ursus maritimus	Arctic	Canada, Norway, United States	Bear attack
scope=row	Sloth bear^[23]	Melursis ursinus	Asia	India	Bear attack
scope=row	Spotted hyenas	Crocuta crocuta	Africa	Uganda
scope=row	Striped hyenas	Hyena hyena	Asia	India
scope=row	Tiger	Panthera tigris	Asia	India, Nepal	Tiger attack

See also

• List of largest land carnivorans
• List of deadliest animals to humans
• Largest wild canids
• List of largest cats
• Man-eater
• List of dangerous snakes

Further reading

• Barker . Kristin J. . Cole . Eric . Courtemanch . Alyson . Dewey . Sarah . Gustine . David . Mills . Kenneth . Stephenson . John . Wise . Benjamin . Middleton . Arthur D. . April 2023 . Large carnivores avoid humans while prioritizing prey acquisition in anthropogenic areas . Journal of Animal Ecology . en . 92 . 4 . 889–900 . 10.1111/1365-2656.13900 . 0021-8790. free .

External links

• How to Survive a Cheetah Attack

Notes and References

1. Book: Ayto, John . The Oxford dictionary of idioms. . Oxford University Press . 2020 . 978-0-19-188075-9 . Fourth . Oxford . 1178881627.
2. Tumram . Nilesh Keshav . Ambade . Vipul N . Dixit . Pradeep G . December 2017 . Human fatalities caused by animal attacks: A six-year autopsy study . Medico-Legal Journal . en . 85 . 4 . 194–199 . 10.1177/0025817217707166 . 28443375 . 206425951 . 0025-8172.
3. Bombieri . Giulia . Nanni . Veronica . Delgado . María del Mar . Fedriani . José M . López-Bao . José Vicente . Pedrini . Paolo . Penteriani . Vincenzo . 2018-08-01 . Content Analysis of Media Reports on Predator Attacks on Humans: Toward an Understanding of Human Risk Perception and Predator Acceptance . BioScience . en . 68 . 8 . 577–584 . 10.1093/biosci/biy072 . 0006-3568. free .
4. Web site: Dunn . Rob . 2012-10-15 . Anxious? Blame the Predators in Your Primate Family History. . 2023-01-26 . Slate Magazine . en.
5. Biting back . Williams . Caroline . New Scientist . 2002-07-22 . 175 . 2353 . subscription . 2023-01-26 .
6. Iserson . Kenneth . Francis . Adama . 2015-03-23 . Jaguar Attack on a Child: Case Report and Literature Review . Western Journal of Emergency Medicine . 16 . 2 . 303–309 . 10.5811/westjem.2015.1.24043 . 4380383 . 25834674.
7. Herrero . S. . Higgins . A. . Cardoza . J. E. . Hajduk . L. I. . Smith . T. S. . 2011 . Fatal attacks by American black bear on people: 1900–2009 . The Journal of Wildlife Management . 75 . 3. 596–603 . 10.1002/jwmg.72 . 55078800 .
8. Web site: Lone, predatory black bears responsible for most human attacks. 11 May 2011. Anchorage Daily News.
9. News: Yellowstone Park kills grizzly bear that ate hiker. BBC News. 14 August 2015.
10. News: Russian bears trap geology survey crew . Alexei . Dovbysh . Reuters . 22 July 2008 . 24 April 2010 .
11. News: Bears eat two men in Russia's eastern wilderness . Luke . Harding . The Guardian . 23 July 2008 . 24 April 2010 . London.
12. Gehrt . Stanley D. . Muntz . Erich M. . Wilson . Evan C. . Power . Jason W. B. . Newsome . Seth D. . 2022-11-29 . Severe environmental conditions create severe conflicts: A novel ecological pathway to extreme coyote attacks on humans . Journal of Applied Ecology . 60 . 2 . en . 1365–2664.14333 . 10.1111/1365-2664.14333 . 253872509 . 0021-8901. free .
13. Web site: Baker . Rex O. . Timm . Robert M. . Coyote Attacks on Humans, 1970–2015 . Proc. 27th Vertebr. Pest Conf. (R. M. Timm and R. A. Baldwin, Eds.) . University of California, Davis . 2016 . 69–77 .
14. News: Alamgir . Hossain . 2019-06-24. Jackals kill & 'feed on' 9-year-old boy in Murshidabad. .
15. Book: Linnell . John D.C. . Wolf attacks on humans: an update for 2002–2020 . 2021 . Ekaterina. Kovtun . Ive . Rouart . 978-82-426-4721-4 . Trondheim . NINA Report 1942 . Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) . 11250/2729772 . 1250628872.
16. Web site: Drake . Nadia . 2018-05-10 . The Jaguar Is Made for the Age of Humans . 2023-01-26 . The Atlantic . en.
17. Neto . Manoel Francisco Campos . Neto . Domingos Garrone . Haddad . Vidal . 2011 . Attacks by Jaguars (Panthera onca) on Humans in Central Brazil: Report of Three Cases, with Observation of a Death . Wilderness & Environmental Medicine . 22 . 2 . 130–135 . 10.1016/j.wem.2011.01.007 . 21396857 . 1080-6032. free .
18. Packer . Craig . Shivakumar . Shweta . Athreya . Vidya . Craft . Meggan E. . Dhanwatey . Harshawardhan . Dhanwatey . Poonam . Gurung . Bhim . Joshi . Anup . Kushnir . Hadas . Linnell . John D. C. . Fountain‐Jones . Nicholas M. . March 2019 . Toit . Johan . Species‐specific spatiotemporal patterns of leopard, lion and tiger attacks on humans . Journal of Applied Ecology . en . 56 . 3 . 585–593 . 10.1111/1365-2664.13311 . 92514788 . 0021-8901. free . 11250/2582594 . free .
19. News: Carrington . Damian . 2003-07-24 . Inquiry into fatal leopard seal attack begins . .
20. Yamazaki . Teddy . Bwalya . 1999 . Fatal lion attacks on local people in the Luangwa Valley, Eastern Zambia . . 29 . 1 . 2023-01-25 . . 10520/EJC117062.
21. Chianese . Robert Louis . 2017 . Perspective: Suburban Stalkers: The Near-Wild Lions in Our Midst . American Scientist . 105 . 5 . 278–281 . 10.1511/2017.105.5.278 . 26532601 . 0003-0996.
22. James M. . Wilder . Dag . Vongraven . Todd . Atwood . Bob . Hansen . Amalie . Jessen . Anatoly . Kochnev . Geoff . York . Rachel . Vallender . Daryll . Hedman . Melissa . Gibbons . Polar Bear Attacks on Humans: Implications of a Changing Climate. . Wildlife Society Bulletin . 41 . 3 . 2017 . 537–47 . 10.1002/wsb.783.
23. Löe . Jonny . Röskaft . Eivin . August 2004 . Large Carnivores and Human Safety: A Review . Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment . en . 33 . 6 . 283–288 . 10.1579/0044-7447-33.6.283 . 15387060 . 37886162 . 0044-7447.