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A team of researchers from several countries in Europe and Canada has found that approximately half of all attacks on humans by large carnivores in the wild can be attributed at least in part, to risky behavior by those that have been attacked. In their paper published in Scientific Reports [open, DOI: 10.1038/srep20552], the team describes the study they carried out, their results and their hope that better education will prevent more such attacks from happening in the future.
To learn more about attacks on humans by large carnivores, which included several types of bears, wolves, coyotes and cougars, the team searched wildlife databases that held such information for attacks in North America, Russia, and three European countries—they discovered that over 697 reported attacks occurred over the time span 1955 to 2014. They also found that the number of attacks each year has been rising steadily. The databases also held information regarding the circumstances surrounding the attacks which allowed the team to sort and count various scenarios. The group also conducted research regarding human activities in the wild and found that the number of people venturing into remote areas has been rising rapidly during the same time frame.
In studying their data, the researchers found that roughly half of the documented attacks they studied occurred during what they describe as risky human behavior, e.g. leaving children alone in wilderness areas, walking a dog without a leash, or tracking a game animal that has been shot and wounded. They theorize that the steady increase in the number of such incidents is likely due to the growth in numbers of wildlife due to conservation efforts, and the rise in the number of people entering areas where wildlife live.
Moose attack more people every year than bears and wolves combined.
(Score: 2) by BK on Saturday February 06 2016, @04:48PM
Add to that the modern fascination with "repopulating" the large (cute?) carnivores... I live in a city of about 90,000 -- admittedly 3.5 miles from the city center -- and we've recently been warned about bears in the area.
So no playing outside. No walking to the school bus stop. WTF.
30 years ago you had to drive 100 miles from this neighborhood to find a bear. Now the risky behavior may be "living within sight of some trees".
...but you HAVE heard of me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 06 2016, @05:33PM
Progress.
Dogs still do attack humans, but given the huge numbers of them and how close they get to humans, seems to be that human-human attacks are typically more common and dangerous. So all that breeding of dogs actually has worked to produce dogs that are less likely to attack humans, in contrast humans have had rather haphazard breeding.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday February 06 2016, @10:52PM
and we've recently been warned about bears in the area.
Bears in the area are nothing to worry about. Leaving your garbage can outside is.
People these days get all bent out of shape anytime a bear is seen. Yet unprovoked bear attacks, especially on children, are virtually unheard of.
Yes you can stumble upon one, and get between a sow and her cub (one of the most dangerous encounters in north america), but simply seeing a random bear is no real cause for concern. Except for the bear. Because sensationalist news media stir up helicopter parents, which call the cops, demanding that they shoot the bear.
Just tell your kids to play in groups which will result in chatter, which will send the bears away.
Even grizzly bears (brown bears as they are called in Alaska) move off if they hear you coming. I once unknowingly "pushed" a young brownie along a ridge, all the while my bell was clinking and I was yaking to my kid, making noise intentionally. The bear ran out of ridge, turned and came back, veering off to our side at full speed just to get away from us.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Sunday February 07 2016, @12:18AM
To give an idea of how harmless bears can be: I used to work in a nice rural summer camp back in my college days, and the director had identified a family of bears that would come down off the mountainside, walk right through the camp while the kids were elsewhere, take a drink from the lake and possibly catch a fish or something, and walk back up the mountainside with the kids none the wiser.
Bears generally don't want to fight people. It's not that they don't think they would win, but like a person fighting a weasel it's a lot of work for a bear to take out a human. They do, however, want to take your food if they can get it.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Sunday February 07 2016, @08:20AM
carnivores are essential to preserving and improving an ecosystem. the re-introduction of wolves to yellowstone, for example, improved its ecosystem [yellowstonepark.com] in many ways that could not be predicted. i'm sure there are plenty of other examples of carnivore reintroduction saving a habitat and improving an ecosystem but the yellowstone wolf reintroduction is the only one i know off the top of my head.