List of large carnivores known to prey on humans

Tiger by Adolphe Millot (Nouveau Larousse illustré c. 1900)

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,[3] and declining populations of traditional prey species.[6]

List[edit]

This article contains dynamic lists that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Animal common name Animal scientific name Location of fatal attacks (continent) Location of fatal attacks (country, region) Article
American black bear[7][8] Ursus americanus North America Canada,[9] United States[9] Bear attack
Brown bear[10][11][12] Ursus arctos Asia, Europe, North America Italy, Canada,[9] China,[9] Japan,[9] Kazakhstan,[9] Krygyztan,[9] Mongolia,[9] Norway,[9] Romania,[9] Russia,[9] Sweden,[9] United States,[9] Yugoslavia[9] Bear attack
Coyote[13][a] Canis latrans North America Canada,[14] United States[14] Coyote attack
Dingo[15][b] Canis dingo Australia Dingo attack
Golden jackal[16] Canis aureus Asia India[16]
Grey wolf[15][c] Canis lupus North America, Asia Afghanistan,[9] Canada,[9] China,[9] Estonia,[9] France,[9] India,[9] Iran,

[9] Italy,[9] Latvia,[9] Lithuania,[9] Poland,[9] Russia,[9] Slovakia,[9] Spain,[9] United States[9]

Wolf attack
Jaguar[17][6] Panthera onca Central America, South America Brazil[18]
Leopard[19][20] Panthera pardus Africa, Asia[20] India,[20] Nepal,[9] South Africa,[9] Uganda[9] Leopard attack
Leopard seal[21][d] Hydrurga leptonyx Antarctica
Lion[19][20] Panthera leo Africa, Asia Tanzania,[20] Zambia[19]
Mountain lion[19][22] Puma concolor North America, South America Canada,[9] Chile,[9] United States[9]
Polar bear[23] Ursus maritimus Arctic Canada,[9] Norway,[9] United States[9] Bear attack
Sloth bear[9] Melursis ursinus Asia India[9] Bear attack
Spotted hyenas[19] Crocuta crocuta Africa Uganda[9]
Striped hyenas[9] Hyena hyena Asia India[9]
Tiger[19][20] Panthera tigris Asia India,[20] Nepal[20] Tiger attack

See also[edit]

Explanatory notes[edit]

  1. ^ As of 2023, there have been two documented fatalities from coyotes.[14]
  2. ^ Dingo attacks are rare and when they occur, they generally are on children. For example, it is believed by some that a dingo was responsible for the death of Azaria Chamberlain, although this has been a controversial and heavily debated topic in Australia since her death in 1980.
  3. ^ Per Löe-Röskaft, most wolf fatalities are due to rabies transmission.
  4. ^ Only one human fatality caused by a leopard seal has been documented to date.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ayto, John (2020). The Oxford dictionary of idioms (Fourth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-188075-9. OCLC 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. 85 (4): 194–199. doi:10.1177/0025817217707166. ISSN 0025-8172. PMID 28443375. S2CID 206425951.
  3. ^ a b 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. 68 (8): 577–584. doi:10.1093/biosci/biy072. ISSN 0006-3568.
  4. ^ Dunn, Rob (2012-10-15). "Anxious? Blame the Predators in Your Primate Family History". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  5. ^ Williams, Caroline (2002-07-22). "Biting back". New Scientist. Vol. 175, no. 2353. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  6. ^ a b 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. doi:10.5811/westjem.2015.1.24043. PMC 4380383. PMID 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. doi:10.1002/jwmg.72. S2CID 55078800.
  8. ^ "Lone, predatory black bears responsible for most human attacks". Anchorage Daily News. 11 May 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq Löe, Jonny; Röskaft, Eivin (August 2004). "Large Carnivores and Human Safety: A Review". Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment. 33 (6): 283–288. doi:10.1579/0044-7447-33.6.283. ISSN 0044-7447. PMID 15387060. S2CID 37886162.
  10. ^ "Yellowstone Park kills grizzly bear that ate hiker". BBC News. 14 August 2015.
  11. ^ Dovbysh, Alexei (22 July 2008). "Russian bears trap geology survey crew". Reuters. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  12. ^ Harding, Luke (23 July 2008). "Bears eat two men in Russia's eastern wilderness". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  13. ^ 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): 1365–2664.14333. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.14333. ISSN 0021-8901. S2CID 253872509.
  14. ^ a b c Baker, Rex O.; Timm, Robert M. (2016). "Coyote Attacks on Humans, 1970–2015" (PDF). Proc. 27th Vertebr. Pest Conf. (R. M. Timm and R. A. Baldwin, Eds.). University of California, Davis. p. 69–77.
  15. ^ a b Linnell, John D.C.; Kovtun, Ekaterina; Rouart, Ive (2021). Wolf attacks on humans: an update for 2002–2020. NINA Report 1942. Trondheim: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA). hdl:11250/2729772. ISBN 978-82-426-4721-4. OCLC 1250628872.
  16. ^ a b Hossain, Alamgir (2019-06-24). "Jackals kill & 'feed on' 9-year-old boy in Murshidabad". Telegraph India.
  17. ^ Drake, Nadia (2018-05-10). "The Jaguar Is Made for the Age of Humans". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  18. ^ 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. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2011.01.007. ISSN 1080-6032. PMID 21396857.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Yamazaki, Teddy; Bwalya (1999). "Fatal lion attacks on local people in the Luangwa Valley, Eastern Zambia". South African Journal of Wildlife Research. 29 (1). hdl:10520/EJC117062. Retrieved 2023-01-25 – via Sabinet African Journals.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 (ed.). "Species‐specific spatiotemporal patterns of leopard, lion and tiger attacks on humans". Journal of Applied Ecology. 56 (3): 585–593. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13311. hdl:11250/2582594. ISSN 0021-8901. S2CID 92514788.
  21. ^ Carrington, Damian (2003-07-24). "Inquiry into fatal leopard seal attack begins". New Scientist.
  22. ^ Chianese, Robert Louis (2017). "Perspective: Suburban Stalkers: The Near-Wild Lions in Our Midst". American Scientist. 105 (5): 278–281. doi:10.1511/2017.105.5.278. ISSN 0003-0996. JSTOR 26532601.
  23. ^ Wilder, James M.; Vongraven, Dag; Atwood, Todd; Hansen, Bob; Jessen, Amalie; Kochnev, Anatoly; York, Geoff; Vallender, Rachel; Hedman, Daryll; Gibbons, Melissa (2017). "Polar Bear Attacks on Humans: Implications of a Changing Climate". Wildlife Society Bulletin. 41 (3): 537–47. doi:10.1002/wsb.783.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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