Abstract
The increasing trend of large carnivore attacks on humans not only raises human safety concerns but may also undermine large carnivore conservation efforts. 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. Here, we investigated brown bear attacks (n = 664) on humans between 2000 and 2015 across most of the range inhabited by the species: North America (n = 183), Europe (n = 291), and East (n = 190). 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. Attacks have increased significantly over time and were more frequent at high bear and low human population densities. There was no significant difference in the number of attacks between continents or between countries with different hunting practices. 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.
Highlights
The increasing trend of large carnivore attacks on humans raises human safety concerns but may undermine large carnivore conservation efforts
19 deaths occurred in Europe (6.6% of the attacks recorded in Europe), 24 in North America (13.1% of the total attacks in North America) and 52 in the East (32.0% of the total attacks in the East)
Our results show a global increase in the number of attacks over the last decades, which is likely the result of several factors, such as the growth of both bear and human populations worldwide, that has led to increased habitat overlap
Summary
The increasing trend of large carnivore attacks on humans raises human safety concerns but may undermine large carnivore conservation efforts. 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] Such a trend raises human safety concerns, and undermines large carnivore conservation efforts, as well as the recovery of several of these species around the world[8,9]. In developed countries, people living in cities are increasingly engaged in recreational outdoor activities in natural parks[2], and owning a second house in natural areas outside the city has become a common trend[22] Such intensified use of wilderness area by humans, especially people that are not used to cohabit with wildlife, increases the probabilities of potentially dangerous encounters with these species, urging wildlife managers and conservationists to take action. This suggests that, even if attacks by brown bears are less frequent than those by other predators, at least among North American large carnivores[2], this species has the power to attract amplified attention of mass media, which has the potential to negatively impact public attitude
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