Studies Show Bears, Mountain Lions Avoid Humans as Attacks Stay at 11.4 and 4-6 a Year
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 5
Studies Show Bears, Mountain Lions Avoid Humans as Attacks Stay at 11.4 and 4-6 a Year
3 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Aug 5
Summary
Two Current Biology studies found bears and mountain lions do not just react to people; they proactively alter feeding and movement patterns to avoid them, helping explain why attacks remain rare in North America.
In southeast Alaska, black and brown bears were twice as likely to flee vehicle sounds as gull calls and nearly 10 times more likely to retreat from human voices.
In California's Santa Cruz Mountains, researchers matched 6 years of GPS data from 36 tagged mountain lions with Strava trail activity and found the cats anticipated busy places and times, then steered clear.
Attack rates remain low despite frequent overlap: brown bears average 11.4 attacks a year, mountain lions 4 to 6, while about 580 people in the US and Canada are struck by lightning annually.
Researchers said the findings recast human-carnivore conflict by showing humans are a major perceived threat, with consequences for ecosystems and for how people use shared landscapes.