Possibly. OTOH, Corbett wandered extensively through Indian jungles as a child, encountering tigers but never molested by them. And it’s a fact that the number that have turned to man-eating has been very small, despite living in areas where humans (including young ones) are plentiful.
The most recent fatal (or simply injurious) attacks by cougars on humans that I can recall around here was the case of the bicyclist who apparently had a malfunction with his mountain bike. He was mountain biking in a park in Orange County which adjoined the cat’s native environment. (Some might say the park encroached upon its environment.)
The biker got down on his knees to re-spool the chain of his bike and was attacked by the cougar. Being of smaller stature (on his knees) he apparently seemed like a target for attack–but why attack? The cougar killed the man, but didn’t eat him as prey. Probably it felt that its territory was being violated. Maybe it was a mother defending its children.
Later, two other bicyclists came along, and the same cougar (they say) tried to attack them. But they threatened it by raising their bicycles over their heads and it ran off.
So, as mentioned above, we should distinguish between “normal” behavior and “aberrant” behavior. Mountain lions will take down the easiest thing for food, which usually are not that big. But if they get hungry enough, or feel threatened, they’ll attack larger animals. What’s the biggest? Who really knows? Elk and moose are fierce fighters, and it would have to be a desperate, hungry mountain lion to take on an adult.
Cougars/mountain lions have been known to attack adult horses. But the horse usually survives, with scars left to show for the attack. It’s quite unusual for them to be able to kill an adult horse.
You got a few of your facts scrambled.
IIRC it was decided that the first biker had been killed and partially buried for food, and the cat thought the second biker was going to steal his food, so the second attack.
The lady mountain biker was severely injured in the attack with bites on her head and face.
Our 10 lb barn cat, Jack, will do the same to the deer that hang around our place. I keep telling him the day that he brings a deer down, I’m calling Ripleys!!:eek:
Canibalism these days is primarily restricted to Africa, where medicinal cannibalism is common in many areas. And lest you think that rules out the humans being prey, the best medicine is taken from humans that are still alive at the time the organs are cut out.
The exact number of Africans that have eaten parts of murder victims is unknown, but the number of murders for canibalistic purposes is listed at between a dozen and 300 each year for South Africa alone. And SOuth Africa is one of the more peaceful of the African states. Figures of thousands annually for the whole of Africa are standard, with high end figures of tens of thousands. Most victims are canibalised for multiple cures, often leaving only the gutted torso behind.
At the low end we if we figure each of 1, 000 killings produces on average 5 different doses, we arrive at a figure of 5, 000 acts of cannibalism annually for Africa. Assuming even 90% of those are repeat offenders that’s 500 new cannibals each year or around 40, 000 cannibals over an average African lifespan lifespan. IOW at the low end there are 40, 000 cannibals living in Africa. If we assume figures of 5, 000 killings a year with 10 doses from each and 50%of those as new “patients” that’s a million cannibals.
So it’s fairly safe to say that there are tens of thousands and possibly millions of cannibals on the planet today.
I didn’t say the majority of people, I said the majority of groups. As more evidence is coming to light it seems that most HG groups engaged in canibalism of some form as did most subsistence farmers. IOW most of the groups in the Americas, Oceania/Polynesia, Africa, Non-Mediterranean europe and SE Asia probably practiced some form of cannibalism in the recent past.
The reason why I think groups are more importnat than numbers is because we are discussing what is “normal”. If one large group does something and 1, 000 small groups do not then the large group is the atypical culture despite representing the majority fo the absolute population.
It’s hard to say because the evidence has been eaten. Seriously. If you look at the past threads on canibalism you will see that we certainly have evidence of people being bucthered as animals are butchered across a wide geogrphical area. That indicates they were eaten as food and in some cases the evdince extends over centruies. But whether it was “routine” and whether it was “ritual” is impossible to determine in most cases. Suffice itto say that is the remains had benof any othe rmamal species we woudln’t hesitate to assume that the people of that area were routinely eating that species for food. So I don’t see any reason why we should make an excpetion for our species.
Anyway, enough of this hijack. You can do a search of my name and past cannibalism threads for more info, or you can start another thread. It was really a throw away line intended to indicate that the nromal huamn diet is much more varied than indicated.
Interesting! Well, if an adult horse is unlikely to be killed by a mountain lion, I suppose that an adult bison, being just so darn big, is going to be pretty much immune to such an attack as well. (That is what I suspected when I started this thread, but I didn’t know for sure…)
Somehow this ancient thread was at the top of threads with new replies (which do not show), but at any rate:
A cage changes the dynamic between different animals, making a test of the above type pretty much non-evidence: a swift hit and retreat type of predator has no retreat option, while a ram and butt type of vegetarian has a field day, using the confined space and the enclosure itself to crush his enemies and hear their spouses lament. In short, a caged fight between species is incredibly loaded from the start, with the bison a clear favorite.
It was bumped by some posts that have been cornfielded.
In the desert southwest, mountain lions prey on feral donkeys:
Do cougars affect ecosystems by preying on feral donkeys? - The Wildlife Society
That must sound terrifying.