Indeed, when they do occur, attacks on humans elicit considerable media attention, which can lead people to overestimate the risk of an attack and, eventually, cause negative public reactions and opposition towards conservation actions 10, 11, 12. Such a trend not only raises human safety concerns, but also undermines large carnivore conservation efforts, as well as the recovery of several of these species around the world 8, 9. Although rare compared to attacks by other wildlife and domestic species 3, 4, such incidents are on the rise in many areas around the world 2, 5, 6, 7. Large carnivore attacks on humans are the most dramatic form of human-wildlife conflicts 1, 2. Understanding global patterns of bear attacks can help reduce dangerous encounters and, consequently, is crucial for informing wildlife managers and the public about appropriate measures to reduce this kind of conflicts in bear country. There was no significant difference in the number of attacks between continents or between countries with different hunting practices. Attacks have increased significantly over time and were more frequent at high bear and low human population densities. When the attacks occurred, half of the people were engaged in leisure activities and the main scenario was an encounter with a female with cubs. Here, we investigated brown bear attacks (n = 664) on humans between 20 across most of the range inhabited by the species: North America (n = 183), Europe (n = 291), and East (n = 190). Although rare, attacks by brown bears Ursus arctos are also on the rise and, although several studies have addressed this issue at local scales, information is lacking on a worldwide scale. The increasing trend of large carnivore attacks on humans not only raises human safety concerns but may also undermine large carnivore conservation efforts. Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 8573 ( 2019) Brown bear attacks on humans: a worldwide perspective
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |