Posted on 08/19/2024 1:14:26 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Following a spate of predator attacks on hikers and park rangers in the US, Ally Hirschlag investigates why animals attack humans in the wild.
Keri Bergere was on a Saturday afternoon bike ride with her friends on the heavily-forested Tokul Creek trail near Fall City, Washington, when two cougars ran out in front of them. One went off into the woods, but the other turned around and, within seconds, had pulled the 60-year-old woman off her bike. "We didn't have a chance to face off with them to scare them away or anything," her friend, Annie Bilotta, told the local news station.
The young cougar clamped down on Bergere's face and would not let go for 15 minutes. Her friends tried everything: they hit it repeatedly with sticks, brought a 25-pound (11.4kg) boulder down on its head and stabbed it with a small knife, all while Bergere kept poking it in the eyes and mouth. When the cougar finally released for a moment and Bergere could get away, her friends pushed a bike on top of it, holding it down until help arrived. Bergere survived but sustained significant, permanent nerve damage to her face.
In Haines Junction, Yukon, Vanessa Chaput was out for a run with her dog when she saw three grizzly bears. As a Kaska woman who grew up encountering apex predators, Chaput knew to give them a wide berth, she told APTN News. But when her dog got off-leash, one of the bears charged her and clamped its jaws onto her head. Luckily, she'd been wearing a claw clip that broke in the bear’s mouth, startling it enough to release her. Her dog's barking then distracted the bear long enough for her to run to the highway and call for help. She was left with puncture wounds
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Hunger?
What a stupid question......
Good character judgment?
Invading their personal space ?
Human-phobic ?
Hungry ?
Hangry !?!
Avoid zoophobia! Not all animals want to eat you.
“Her dog’s barking then distracted the bear long enough for her to run to the highway and call for help.”
Dogs are fearless.
No fangs, no claws, no armor but lots of meat.
a) they were running/moving, which triggers the predator reflex to pursue;
b) they startled the animals;
c) they were unarmed.
Why do humans attack animals in the wild?
Have these researchers tried to reason with a hungry grizzly on “Why are you doing this to me”? A casual conversation over a game of chess, bring it up and see what ensues.
We taste just like chicken?
Part of it is hunger. Young lions especially get driven away from the food source by the mature lions, so people and their pets become an option.
Part of it is threat response. People surprise them or get into their space, and they leap. Millions have seen the video of the mother lion who hissed at the hiker in Utah because he was near her kittens.
Part of it is reflex. Predators are created to leap at things that move, so joggers and bikers get jumped.
And part of it is really dumb people pressing the red Darwin button.
If you walk outside of your house, be aware of the possibilities.
This has got to be one of the stupider questions I’ve seen discussed in the press in a long time.
ask them.
why do humans attack humans in the non-wild?
Because it’s far more complicated to attack them in houses. Most animals haven’t mastered the Doorknob Principle yet.
How many billions were given for this study? And it all went to city folk who don’t even know how to feed a house cat.
Why oh why, Ohio?
Welcome to the party, pal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.