[EnderWiggin1970]

They have a very elderly, shrinking population, with victim disarmament making it difficult for rural residents to defend themselves. Increased production density in agriculture combined with population loss means developed land is shrinking, with animals increasingly moving into once-inhabited/cultivated areas.

The spike in attacks and deaths seems too sharp to be explained by these changes though, which are very gradual in effect. I wonder if the numbers will come back down, or if something else is driving a rapid increase in attacks.

[marktwain]

The fatal attack numbers are very small. Even 13 is a very small number. With such small numbers statistics can easily jump around and records can be set.