A worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humans
Large carnivores have long fascinated human societies and have profound influences on ecosystems. However, their conservation represents one of the greatest challenges of our time, particularly where attacks on humans occur. Where human recreational and/or livelihood activities overlap with large ca...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9888692/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1811173554403672064 |
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| author | Giulia Bombieri Vincenzo Penteriani Kamran Almasieh Hüseyin Ambarlı Mohammad Reza Ashrafzadeh Chandan Surabhi Das Nishith Dharaiya Rafael Hoogesteijn Almira Hoogesteijn Dennis Ikanda Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski Mohammad Kaboli Anastasia Kirilyuk Ashish Kumar Jangid Ravi Kumar Sharma Hadas Kushnir Babu Ram Lamichhane Alireza Mohammadi Octavio Monroy-Vilchis Joseph M. Mukeka Igor Nikolaev Omar Ohrens Craig Packer Paolo Pedrini Shyamala Ratnayeke Ivan Seryodkin Thomas Sharp Himanshu Shekhar Palei Tom Smith Ashok Subedi Fernando Tortato Koji Yamazaki Maria del Mar Delgado |
| author_facet | Giulia Bombieri Vincenzo Penteriani Kamran Almasieh Hüseyin Ambarlı Mohammad Reza Ashrafzadeh Chandan Surabhi Das Nishith Dharaiya Rafael Hoogesteijn Almira Hoogesteijn Dennis Ikanda Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski Mohammad Kaboli Anastasia Kirilyuk Ashish Kumar Jangid Ravi Kumar Sharma Hadas Kushnir Babu Ram Lamichhane Alireza Mohammadi Octavio Monroy-Vilchis Joseph M. Mukeka Igor Nikolaev Omar Ohrens Craig Packer Paolo Pedrini Shyamala Ratnayeke Ivan Seryodkin Thomas Sharp Himanshu Shekhar Palei Tom Smith Ashok Subedi Fernando Tortato Koji Yamazaki Maria del Mar Delgado |
| author_sort | Giulia Bombieri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Large carnivores have long fascinated human societies and have profound influences on ecosystems. However, their conservation represents one of the greatest challenges of our time, particularly where attacks on humans occur. Where human recreational and/or livelihood activities overlap with large carnivore ranges, conflicts can become particularly serious. Two different scenarios are responsible for such overlap: In some regions of the world, increasing human populations lead to extended encroachment into large carnivore ranges, which are subject to increasing contraction, fragmentation, and degradation. In other regions, human and large carnivore populations are expanding, thus exacerbating conflicts, especially in those areas where these species were extirpated and are now returning. We thus face the problem of learning how to live with species that can pose serious threats to humans. We collected a total of 5,440 large carnivore (Felidae, Canidae, and Ursidae; 12 species) attacks worldwide between 1950 and 2019. The number of reported attacks increased over time, especially in lower-income countries. Most attacks (68%) resulted in human injuries, whereas 32% were fatal. Although attack scenarios varied greatly within and among species, as well as in different areas of the world, factors triggering large carnivore attacks on humans largely depend on the socioeconomic context, with people being at risk mainly during recreational activities in high-income countries and during livelihood activities in low-income countries. The specific combination of local socioeconomic and ecological factors is thus a risky mix triggering large carnivore attacks on humans, whose circumstances and frequencies cannot only be ascribed to the animal species. This also implies that effective measures to reduce large carnivore attacks must also consider the diverse local ecological and social contexts. A worldwide study of large carnivore attacks on people analyzes and compares the main patterns and circumstances within and among species and across geographic regions, shedding light on this complex and critical type of human-wildlife conflict. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T17:49:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9c0ee1f310554d81bc4866b78b6634f3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T17:49:55Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-9c0ee1f310554d81bc4866b78b6634f32023-02-02T22:54:20ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852023-01-01211A worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humansGiulia BombieriVincenzo PenterianiKamran AlmasiehHüseyin AmbarlıMohammad Reza AshrafzadehChandan Surabhi DasNishith DharaiyaRafael HoogesteijnAlmira HoogesteijnDennis IkandaWłodzimierz JędrzejewskiMohammad KaboliAnastasia KirilyukAshish Kumar JangidRavi Kumar SharmaHadas KushnirBabu Ram LamichhaneAlireza MohammadiOctavio Monroy-VilchisJoseph M. MukekaIgor NikolaevOmar OhrensCraig PackerPaolo PedriniShyamala RatnayekeIvan SeryodkinThomas SharpHimanshu Shekhar PaleiTom SmithAshok SubediFernando TortatoKoji YamazakiMaria del Mar DelgadoLarge carnivores have long fascinated human societies and have profound influences on ecosystems. However, their conservation represents one of the greatest challenges of our time, particularly where attacks on humans occur. Where human recreational and/or livelihood activities overlap with large carnivore ranges, conflicts can become particularly serious. Two different scenarios are responsible for such overlap: In some regions of the world, increasing human populations lead to extended encroachment into large carnivore ranges, which are subject to increasing contraction, fragmentation, and degradation. In other regions, human and large carnivore populations are expanding, thus exacerbating conflicts, especially in those areas where these species were extirpated and are now returning. We thus face the problem of learning how to live with species that can pose serious threats to humans. We collected a total of 5,440 large carnivore (Felidae, Canidae, and Ursidae; 12 species) attacks worldwide between 1950 and 2019. The number of reported attacks increased over time, especially in lower-income countries. Most attacks (68%) resulted in human injuries, whereas 32% were fatal. Although attack scenarios varied greatly within and among species, as well as in different areas of the world, factors triggering large carnivore attacks on humans largely depend on the socioeconomic context, with people being at risk mainly during recreational activities in high-income countries and during livelihood activities in low-income countries. The specific combination of local socioeconomic and ecological factors is thus a risky mix triggering large carnivore attacks on humans, whose circumstances and frequencies cannot only be ascribed to the animal species. This also implies that effective measures to reduce large carnivore attacks must also consider the diverse local ecological and social contexts. A worldwide study of large carnivore attacks on people analyzes and compares the main patterns and circumstances within and among species and across geographic regions, shedding light on this complex and critical type of human-wildlife conflict.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9888692/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Giulia Bombieri Vincenzo Penteriani Kamran Almasieh Hüseyin Ambarlı Mohammad Reza Ashrafzadeh Chandan Surabhi Das Nishith Dharaiya Rafael Hoogesteijn Almira Hoogesteijn Dennis Ikanda Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski Mohammad Kaboli Anastasia Kirilyuk Ashish Kumar Jangid Ravi Kumar Sharma Hadas Kushnir Babu Ram Lamichhane Alireza Mohammadi Octavio Monroy-Vilchis Joseph M. Mukeka Igor Nikolaev Omar Ohrens Craig Packer Paolo Pedrini Shyamala Ratnayeke Ivan Seryodkin Thomas Sharp Himanshu Shekhar Palei Tom Smith Ashok Subedi Fernando Tortato Koji Yamazaki Maria del Mar Delgado A worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humans PLoS Biology |
| title | A worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humans |
| title_full | A worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humans |
| title_fullStr | A worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humans |
| title_full_unstemmed | A worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humans |
| title_short | A worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humans |
| title_sort | worldwide perspective on large carnivore attacks on humans |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9888692/?tool=EBI |
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