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]
| 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 |
| Blue shark | Prionace glauca | Shark 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 |
| Bull Shark | Carcharhinus leucas | Asia, Australia, North America | Australia, India, United States | Shark attack | |
| Cougar[12] | Puma concolor | North America, South America | Canada, Chile, United States | Cougar attack | |
| scope=row | Coyote[13] | Canis latrans | North America | Canada,[14] United States | Coyote attack |
| scope=row | Dingo | Canis dingo | Australia | Dingo attack | |
| scope=row | Golden jackal[15] | Canis aureus | Asia | India | |
| Great white shark | Carcharodon carcharias | Africa, Australia, North America | Australia, South Africa, United States | Shark attack | |
| scope=row | Grey wolf[16] | 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[17] | Panthera onca | Central America, South America | Brazil[18] | |
| scope=row | Leopard[19] | Panthera pardus | Africa, Asia | India, Nepal, South Africa, Uganda | Leopard attack |
| scope=row | Leopard seal[20] | Hydrurga leptonyx | Antarctica | ||
| scope=row | Lion[21] | Panthera leo | Africa, Asia | Tanzania, Zambia | Lion attack |
| Oceanic whitetip shark | Carcharhinus longimanus | At sea | Shark attack | ||
| Orca | Orcinus Orca | Europe, North America, South America | Canada, Portugal, Spain, United States | Orca 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 hyena | Crocuta crocuta | Africa | Uganda | |
| scope=row | Striped hyena | Hyena hyena | Asia | India | |
| scope=row | Tiger | Panthera tigris | Asia | India, Nepal | Tiger attack |
| Tiger shark | Galeocerdo cuvier | Africa, North America | Bahamas, Egypt, United States | Shark attack |