Animal attack statistics

New Animal Attack Study Reveals Where & Which Large Predators Prey on Humans

The latest report from PLOS Biology is a fascinating look at animal attacks on humans by large land predators like bears, wolves, and big cats.

With over 70 years of data to pull from, the full report dissects three key points:

  • Which species are attacking humans
  • Where these attacks are occurring
  • Why these attacks occur

As USA TODAY cites, this is the first study of its kind to address each of these questions on a global scale. Within, biologists take into account all species of large terrestrial carnivores. This means water-based megafauna like sharks and crocodilians are off the table.

At large, the study’s authors hope to help improve co-existence with large predators across the planet. Their data suggests this is more important now than ever, as large carnivore attacks have increased over their study period. Which is to say, despite the development of “modern” civilization, humanity is still very much at the mercy of our natural predators.

This may boil down to an increased likelihood and capability for more populations to report wildlife attacks. Regardless, the biologists involved expect more conflicts to come, not less.

In total, the study takes into account 5,440 large predator attacks from 1950 to 2019. A total of 12 species (listed below) are responsible for the attacks, not all of which were fatal:

Species of Predator (worldwide)Number of Attacks (1950-2019)
Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus)1,337
Tigers (all species)1,047
Asiatic black bears765
Brown bears (Ursus arctos)664
Wolves (all species)414
American black bear (Ursus americanus)403
Lions (African species)282
Leopards (all species)205
Coyotes (Canis latrans)140
Cougars (Puma concolor)135
Jaguars (all species)25
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus)23
Data from PLOS Biology

According to the study, roughly 1 out of 3 attacks listed above were fatal. All 5,440 resulted in human injury. By the data, these are the most deadly large predators of humanity:

  • Big cats (tigers, lions, jaguars, etc) are the deadliest, with 65% proving fatal. Tigers are responsible for more attacks than all other feline species combined.
  • Canid species (wolves, coyotes, jackals, dingoes, and domestic dogs) are second-deadliest, with 49% of attacks proving fatal. Domestic/pet dogs kill more humans each year than all other canids combined.
  • Only 9% of attacks by bear species proved fatal.

Fatal attacks are also more likely to occur in lower-income countries. This is a result of lions and tigers being present in these areas, as well as a larger presence of farming, herding, and agricultural jobs that require long hours outdoors.

Where Predatory Animal Attacks are Most Likely

  • Predatory attacks by large animals are most prominent in India. 72% of the attacks above occurred in this country alone. This is a result of India’s large population of tigers, lions, leopards, wolves, and humans.
  • Africa housed 14% of the attacks above.
  • North America and Europe saw the largest portion of unprovoked (non-predatory) attacks. In developed areas of both continents, large predators have become habituated and the likelihood of non-predatory encounters is remarkably high.

Despite the shocking nature of these statistics, it’s important to note that more humans die as a result of hornets, wasps, and bees in the U.S. every year than all predatory animal attacks combined.

Additionally, most years see over 30 deaths by domestic dogs in the U.S., which is more than triple the amount of all wildlife fatalities (by all species) combined.