Animals eat humans for millennia. Most wild animals can attack humans if surprised but there are certain species known to go for humans regardless of the situation you encounter them in. If they have the opportunity to attack, the following animals are going to jump on you without hesitation.
Table of Contents
Tigers
Tigers are probably the animals most dangerous to humans by the high number of recorded historic fatalities. We don’t know how many humans died in the early days of human civilization, but we know tigers killed more than 400.000 people. The regions of North India and Nepal are the most troublesome as this is the place where most tigers live.
Going back to the printed news of the 20th century, we find the famous case of the Champawat Tiger. A Bengal tigress killed 436 people in regions of Nepal. The tigress is now recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most dangerous tiger in history. Villages and lives have been lost after raids from this tigress. It was a British hunter, Jim Corbett, that eventually hunted and killed this tiger. After locals have failed to kill the tigress, the British hunter started to trace it through the wilderness following traces of blood from its victims before killing it and ending a bloodbath era in the Southeast Asia region.
Leopards
Leopards are at least as likely as tigers to attack and kill humans. Statistics tell us that leopards aren’t particularly looking for humans. But the 19th-century data shows more than 12.000 people have been killed by leopards in India and Africa.
Leopard of Penar was a famous example of the animal’s ferocious nature. This leopard killed hundreds of people and it eventually went down in history as the most dangerous leopard. Faster and more agile than tigers, leopards have no problems killing humans as most victims don’t even hear them coming.
Crocodiles
Crocodiles are fast ferocious animals that can easily kill humans. We now know crocodiles won’t think twice about attacking humans as they are truly able to sit in one place and wait for the prey for hours. In history, there are multiple famous crocodiles. But Gustave is an African crocodile responsible for hundreds of deaths in Burundi.
Locals tried to capture Gustave on multiple occasions. They tried to cut the crocodile with machetes and even to shoot it down. But nothing seemed to work. The age of Gustave might have been one of its advantages in always escaping capture as it was one of the oldest crocodiles ever found. Awaiting humans at the shores of a lake, Gustave would almost always take his humans victims by surprise.
Bears
Bears are some of the most ferocious animals in the woods. They don’t necessarily attack humans but they charge directly at people when taken by surprise. There are endless cases where bears killed and attacked people in their homes. In other situations, the victims were walking out in the wilderness when surprised by bears.
The problem with bears is that they are generally lazy and creatures of customs. If they find food in one place, they are likely to return. This is why a bear will almost always return to a sight of killing for more food. This is why many man-killing bears are captured. Once it has taken a few lives in an area, it’s likely to return for more. Bears are found in North America, Europe, and Asia, and stories of human killings are heard almost anywhere it lives.
Wolves
If you open almost any fairy tale book, you will find wolves in it. These creatures terrified and inspired folklore and songs from the early days of civilization. Since then, wolves have gone extinct due to the increasing human population in cities and villages across the world. Wolves need vast uninhabited spaces to live.
In history, wolves have attacked humans almost on any occasion. But some wolves were even considered serial killers. For most people, wolves represent a real danger, and given a single wolf killed more than 100 people within days in France is proof this fear is not irrational. Many believe wolves are the real victims due to their falling numbers. But a wolf will not hesitate to attack humans given the chance.
Sharks
Sharks always attack humans if they get the chance. They kill humans for fun as they don’t like the taste of human flesh, as it turns out. A shark will bite a human only to live it and move on to another target. Sharks eating humans are rare.
Shark attacks are popular on beaches or shallow waters where humans bathe. Most sharks tend to be attracted by activity and sounds can trigger them into an attack. Multiple daily shark attacks by the same shark have been reported in history.
The great white shark is an example of a shark that always comes back for more. Sharks are fast swimmers and you might think they are soon gone after an attack. But data shows another attack is imminent as sharks tend to come back after new prey and seek out new prey constantly.
A shark can easily reach a length of 9 or more feet. This means it’s quite ferocious and powerful. A single shark bite can instantly kill a human.
Lions
Lions also directly attack humans for fun and food. It was 100 years ago in Tanzania that a group of lions attacked a small village killing hundreds. Lions don’t usually wait for nightfall to attack but even if you see them coming during the day, there’s not much you can do to fight them off given their speed and strength. This rare case of mass human killing by lions was eventually stopped when a hunter went after the lions and shot each of them. But it was a long journey as lions can travel far each day if they decide to keep moving for new food sources.
