When the bear strikes
For the first time, a study has summarised where which predators attack - and why. South Asia is the most dangerous region, and bears play a major role.
"Man is a wolf to man," wrote the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. And in view of the atrocities we inflict on each other, this certainly cannot be denied. Nevertheless, many people are almost more afraid of predators such as wolves, bears or other carnivores, even though the probability of falling victim to them is very low. A group led by Giulia Bombieri from the Conservation Biology Unit in Trento, Italy, has taken the trouble to analyse globally how many attacks by various predators on humans there have been in recent decades, what could have triggered them and how many of them ended fatally. Their findings were published by Bombieri and co in "PLOS Biology".
In total, the team was able to compile over 5,000 attacks from the last 70 years for which there was reasonably reliable knowledge. A total of twelve predator species emerged as the main attackers, including several bear species, wolves, coyotes, lions, tigers, pumas and jaguars. The scientists also differentiated according to the type of attack, where data was available, such as whether it was a targeted attack in search of food, an accidental encounter with too close contact or a mother animal defending her young or feeling provoked by dogs present.
Among the large areas analysed, South Asia proved to be the most dangerous, with half of the recorded attacks occurring there. South America, on the other hand, had the lowest number of attacks, even though it is also home to two potentially dangerous cat species, the jaguar and the puma. Overall, the deadliest attacks were those for food. In this case, more than 90 per cent of the people affected died, with South Asia also leading in absolute numbers: Although tigers, wolves and leopards only very rarely hunt humans specifically here, they do prey on them when the opportunity presents itself. In the Sunderbans mangroves of India and Bangladesh, tigers actually pose a major threat to people who hunt, fish or gather here. Although fewer people die as a result in the African countries analysed, such attacks occur almost exclusively here.
In principle, it can be said that such attacks occur much more frequently in poorer countries, the authors write. In highly developed countries, on the other hand, incidents mainly occur when people are pursuing leisure activities in nature: Joggers awaken the hunting instinct in pumas, walkers with dogs trigger territorial behaviour in wolves, hikers accidentally get between mother bears and their offspring or surprise male bears while they are roaming the forest. Again, especially in South Asia, this last case causes numerous incidents involving black bears and sloth bears. Targeted attacks by hungry bears, on the other hand, form a very small group.
Incidents in Europe are also predominantly caused by bears (in this case brown bears), while wolf attacks are extremely rare and are usually caused by wounded animals or when dogs are involved. This also applies to regions where both species are more common. Bombieri and co thus confirm an earlier study that focussed on attacks by predators on humans in North America and Europe. According to this study, the number of recorded serious incidents between humans and wild animals had risen steadily, but risky human behaviour had triggered almost half of the attacks in the first place, such as feeding carnivores, dogs running free or hunters searching for bears and wolves that had been shot.
The high number of attacks in South Asia is in turn linked to the special situation there: Many people live in close contact with wild nature, where tigers, bears and wolves still occur. In search of firewood, wild honey or herbs, they accidentally come into contact with wild animals or are deliberately hunted as prey - a risk that will increase with population growth in this part of Asia, but also in Africa.
Spectrum of Science
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