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 nameAnimal scientific nameLocation of fatal attacks (continent)Location of fatal attacks (country, region) Article
scope=row American black bear[7] [8] Ursus americanusNorth AmericaCanada, United StatesBear attack
scope=row Brown bear[9] [10] [11] Ursus arctosAsia, Europe, North AmericaItaly, Canada, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Krygyztan, Mongolia, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, United States, YugoslaviaBear attack
scope=row Coyote[12] Canis latransNorth AmericaCanada,[13] United StatesCoyote attack
scope=row DingoCanis dingoAustraliaDingo attack
scope=row Golden jackal[14] Canis aureusAsiaIndia
scope=row Grey wolf[15] Canis lupusNorth America, AsiaAfghanistan, Canada, China, Estonia, France, India, Iran, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, United StatesWolf attack
scope=row Jaguar[16] Panthera oncaCentral America, South AmericaBrazil[17]
scope=row Leopard[18] Panthera pardusAfrica, AsiaIndia, Nepal, South Africa, UgandaLeopard attack
scope=row Leopard seal[19] Hydrurga leptonyxAntarctica
scope=row Lion[20] Panthera leoAfrica, AsiaTanzania, ZambiaLion attack
scope=row Cougar[21] Puma concolorNorth America, South AmericaCanada, Chile, United StatesCougar attack
scope=row Polar bear[22] Ursus maritimusArcticCanada, Norway, United StatesBear attack
scope=row Sloth bear[23] Melursis ursinusAsiaIndiaBear attack
scope=row Spotted hyenasCrocuta crocutaAfricaUganda
scope=row Striped hyenasHyena hyenaAsiaIndia
scope=row TigerPanthera tigrisAsiaIndia, NepalTiger attack

See also

Further reading

External links

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.