LARGE ANIMAL ATTACKS

Luanne Freer, M.D.

Principle Contributor

Objectives:

Describe the large animals likely to be encountered in North America and on other continents, how attacks by these animals can be avoided, how to reduce injury during attacks, the injuries likely to be inflicted, and their care.

Attacks by large animals are uncommon in North America in comparison with Africa or India. However, a significant number of injuries and a few deaths are caused by such conflicts each year. The North American animals included in this discussion are:

•  Bears (Black Bears, Brown Bears, and Polar Bears)

•  Bison

•  Cougars

•  Alligators

•  Ungulates (Moose, Elk, and Deer)

•  Coyotes and Wolves

In addition, the following large animals found in Asia and Africa are briefly considered:

•  Elephants

•  Tigers

•  Lions

•  Leopards

•  Crocodiles

•  Black Rhinoceros

•  Hippopotamus

•  Cape Buffalo

•  Hyena

BEARS

For years a pproximately ten bear attacks on humans and one fatality were reported in all of North America including Canada each year, but the incidence is increasing, apparently because more humans are encroaching on bear habitat. Brown bears have been thought to be responsible for most of the attacks and fatalities, but black bears and occasionally polar bears also kill a significant number of humans. Herrero reports that during the decade of the 1990's twenty-nine people were killed by bears: eighteen by brown bears and eleven by black bears. (To put these data in perspective, between 1977 and 1998 dogs killed 250 North Americans.)

Black Bears

Black bears, which have many color variations including brown and “honey,” are numerous in the forested areas of the United States. They have no natural enemies and have become a nuisance for campers in some National Parks, particularly Yosemite.

Because these animals have evolved in forested areas, they have learned to hide or climb trees when threatened. Therefore, truly wild bears infrequently attack humans. In contrast to brown bears, black bear sows with cubs rarely behave aggressively. Black bears that have a sudden encounter with humans almost never attack. Aggressive behavior by humans—shouting, waving arms, walking toward the bear, and making threatening gestures—almost always frightens away black bears. Whether greater precautions are needed deserves consideration.

Bears that have become habituated to humans do occasionally attack them, particularly individuals who approach too closely—trying to feed them or take pictures. Herrero was able to find more than 500 incidents in which black bears attacked humans between 1960 and 1980. Ninety percent of the injuries produced by such attacks were minor, but major injuries were inflicted in thirty-five attacks.

A number of humans have been killed. Herrero was able to find reliable accounts of twenty-three humans killed by black bears between 1900 and 1980. According to the Canadian Conservation Officer Service Bear Statistics, between 1978 and 1996 ten people were killed by black bears and seventy-eight people were injured in British Columbia. In recent years the number of attacks appears to have increased. In early September of 2005 a thirty-one-year-old female physician was killed by a black bear in Missinaibi Lake Provincial Park in Ontario. One week later a sixty-nine-year-man was killed while picking plums in Selkirk, Manitoba, a village north of Winnipeg. This was the third time a black bear had killed a human in Manitoba.

Herrero has concluded that 90 percent of lethal black bear attacks have been predatory. Furthermore, 90 percent of such predatory attacks have been made by truly wild, unhabituated bears. Only one of the predatory attacks occurred in a national park where most food conditioning and habituation occur. Most of the predatory attacks have been made during daylight in contrast to the night hours during which most predatory brown bear attacks occur. Most attacks appear to be associated with a failure of the wild berry crop, a vital source of food for black bears.

Control of black bears in National Parks, such as Yosemite has been greatly improved by making human food and garbage inaccessible.

Brown Bears

Brown bears, both grizzlies and Kodiaks, are larger and more aggressive than black bears. Attacks on humans, a number of which are fatal, are periodically reported from areas inside and surrounding Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks and from Alaska and Canada. Unlike most black bears, brown bears do behave aggressively when they perceive a human threat. Sows with cubs are very aggressive, and are responsible for 80 percent of brown bear attacks. (A possible reason for the aggressive behavior of sows with cubs is that sows stay with their cubs for three years and will not mate during that time. Male grizzlies sometimes will kill cubs so they can mate with the mother. Therefore, the mother has to be very aggressive in caring for her young.)

Herrero, recording only reports that he considered highly reliable, found that brown bears had inflicted 165 injuries in 143 incidents from the time records began in 1872 through 1979. He estimated that the true number of incidents and injuries was probably twice those numbers. Fifty percent of the injuries were considered major. He calculated that during the 1970's brown bears inflicted one injury for each 1.3 million visitors in Glacier National Park, and one injury for each 1.5 million visitors in Yellowstone. Injury rates were higher for backcountry visitors and ranged from one injury for each 2,620 backcountry use days in Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks in Canada to one injury for each 59,300 backcountry use days in Yellowstone.

Approximately half of the brown bear incidents have involved hikers who surprised a bear. In 83 percent of the thirty-five incidents in which the distance from the hiker to the bear was known, the bear was fifty-five yards away or less.

Avoiding Encounters

Brown bears usually try to avoid interacting with humans. Hikers in the wilderness are advised to make noise by shouting, talking loudly, or singing as they hike to avoid surprising brown bears. The effectiveness of “bear bells” is unproven. Police whistles, which are usually louder than a human voice, or high frequency whistles have not been proven effective, probably because they are not loud enough. The bear has to hear the noise while he is still far enough away not to feel threatened. Running water, or a strong wind render noise makers less effective.

One effective mechanism s an air horn powered by a canister of gas. Salmon tagging crews in Alaska who sounded such horns periodically, particularly when near dense brush, never encountered bears. When they assumed bears were not present and stopped sounding the horns, they came upon a number of bears.

Particular vigilance must be exercised when travelling into the wind because bears may not smell approaching humans even though they have a keen sense of smell.

Signs of a bear's presence, such as tracks or scat, must be carefully sought. Partially eaten carcasses should be given a wide berth because bears usually return to finish their meal. Vultures circling over such a carcass indicate its presence and also warn that a bear may be near.

One of the best ways to avoid injury by brown bears is to travel in a group. No serious attacks on groups of four or more people have been reported, and attacks on two or three individuals are less common than attacks on persons traveling alone. Herrero found that in 88 percent of brown bear incidents only one person was injured. In 8 percent two people were injured, and in only 3 percent were three persons injured. Individuals in small groups should take care to cook, wash, store all food and garbage, and locate their toilet at least 100 yards from the site of their camp.

Campers should follow precautions:

•  Bear trails or feeding grounds should be avoided.

•  Sites with bear signs such as droppings or tracks should be avoided.

•  Sites where food or garbage has been left should be avoided.

•  The cooking area should be 100 yards or more downwind of the tent.

•  All food and strongly scented materials should be stored at least 100 yards from the tent, preferably suspended in a tree in a manner a bear can not reach them, or in a bear-proof container or multiple air-tight plastic bags.

•  In brown bear territory camp should be near an escape tree or well in the open away from cover.

•  Packs should be left outside the tent with the flaps open.

In bear country all campers should use tents. The danger of brown bear predation appears definitely to be reduced by sleeping in a tent.

Dealing with Encounters

Brown bears have evolved in open environments, not in forests, and have not learned to be frightened by aggression, as have black bears. During a “provoked” encounter (when a human surprises a brown bear), a human should attempt to be as unthreatening as possible.

A brown bear that stands on its hind legs is only trying to evaluate the situation, probably trying to get a better smell. A bear on all four legs may show agitation by salivating, swaying its head from side-to-side, making huffing noises, or making clacking noises with its teeth. Charges are common but many are false charges in which no contact is made with humans. Herrero considers the position of the bear's ears to be a significant indication of the bear's intentions: like a dog, the farther back the ears are, the more aroused is the bear.

Eye-to-eye contact should be avoided. Backing slowly is the best way to get away. Running is not advisable because it attracts the bear's attention, and bears can run much faster than humans, approximately one-third faster than a world-class sprinter.

“Playing dead” if the bear approaches is often—although not always—successful. Individuals should curl up on the ground with their arms over their heads and necks. Brown bears often make only one bite or one swipe with a paw, and injuries to an arm are far more survivable than injuries to the head. If humans are wearing a pack they can try to shoulder it over their head.

One common mistake made by individuals playing dead is getting up too quickly. People using this protective maneuver must be absolutely certain the bear has left. “Wait until you're sure he's gone and then wait some more.” When bears return to someone that has played dead, they often are more aggressive than during the first curious examination.

Bear sprays (pepper sprays) have been shown to be effective in stopping both brown and black bear attacks. Sprays can be used before contact is made or during an attack.

Guns are not allowed in National Parks, and anyone considering carrying a gun for protection must remember that only a large caliber round precisely aimed in a minimal amount of time would be effective against a charging bear. Wounding the bear makes it angry, and inaccurate use of a handgun appears to result in more serious injury and death to the human.

Occasionally brown bears make predatory attacks on humans, almost always at night. When faced with such an attack, the only recourse is to fight back with whatever weapons are on hand. Fighting back is effective with surprising frequency, probably because the bear is looking for an easy meal, not one he has to fight for. Brown bears habituated to humans and conditioned to eating human food and garbage make most predatory attacks and consume the bodies of those they have killed, which is the reason for rigorous human food and trash management policies in bear territory.

REFERENCES:

Herrero S: Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance. The Lyons Press, Guilford, CT, 2002.

Floyd T: Bear-inflicted Human Injury and Fatality. Wilderness Environ Med 1999; 10 :75-87.

Polar Bears

Human encounters with polar bears are uncommon because with the exception of a few towns like Churchill, Manitoba, few humans live in the areas where these bears are found. The population of Nunavut, the huge northeastern Canadian territory, is only about 29,500.

Polar bears are among the largest carnivores in the world. They are strong, fast, and agile—on ice, land, and in water.

Descriptions of polar bear behavior range from animals that attack without provocation— “The polar bear is the most deadly of all. They are known to stalk and hunt humans.”—to animals that appear to largely ignore humans, as they seem to do in Churchill. However, when attacks on humans do occur, m ost are predatory.

Churchill is known as the "Polar Bear Capital of the World" because scores of bears gather there to await the freezing of Hudson Bay. It was established in 1717, and since that time attacks by polar bears have been infrequent. Only two townspeople have been killed, despite numerous encounters. The first death occurred in 1968. Native teenagers followed polar bear tracks through a fresh snowfall, found the animal, and proceeded to molest him. The bear attacked and killed one of them. (This incident has also been reported as a twelve-year-old who blundered into a den of polar bears.)

The second took place in 1983 when a native scavenging in the newly burned ruins of the Churchill Hotel found some unspoiled meat in the freezer and stuffed his pockets with it. (Reports have also stated he was carrying the roast beef under his arm.) Unfortunately, a polar bear in the vicinity was intent on doing some scavenging of his own, and the man was killed.

Churchill's “polar bear jail” was built in 1982 to house problem animals, and has reduced polar bear-human encounters. Problem bears are housed in this facility until they can be tranquillised and helicopter to another location.

Although one review of bear attacks considered only the two Churchill fatalities to be well documented, other lethal attacks have probably occurred. According to Internet sources the last fatal polar bear victim in Canada was a Baker Lake, Nunavut, woman killed in 1999. According to a similar source only seven people have been killed by polar bears in Canada in the past thirty years. In the same period only one person has been killed by a polar bear in Alaska. In all of recorded history only nineteen people have been killed by polar bears in Russia.

Polar bears can be found from the permanent pack ice and coasts of the Arctic Ocean and Arctic islands to southern Hudson Bay. They live mainly on sea ice or on land within a few kilometers of the coast and are uncommon in inland areas.

In fall, winter, and spring polar bears hunt seals along the sea ice edge, near open water and areas of pushed up sea ice. They also hunt for seals in places where sea ice is thin or cracked, such as at tide cracks in land-fast ice or at toes of glaciers. In spring females with cubs hunt for seal birthing areas along pushed up sea ice, as well as near cracks in land-fast ice, particularly in bays.

In summer polar bears are forced ashore when sea ice melts. They feed on birds, eggs, and small mammals along coastlines, beaches and rocky islands near the coast. They also scavenge anything from wildlife carcasses to human garbage.

In fall, winter and spring maternity dens are located in snowdrifts along slopes of coastal hills and valleys. Maternity dens can also be found at high elevations on snowfields and glaciers. Dens are inconspicuous but bear tracks leading into or away from snowdrifts, as well as ventilation holes may indicate den locations.

In winter temporary dens and daybeds are dug into snowdrifts or pushed up sea ice. These are used as resting places or as temporary shelter from bad weather for a few days up to several months.

Avoiding Encounters

Individuals in polar bear country must stay alert. Seeing bears before they are a problem decreases chances of a dangerous encounter. Humans should always travel in groups of at least four people and should stay together to increase their safety. As in brown bear territory, travelers should make noise as they move along to communicate their presence. They should only travel in daylight and must be aware of their surroundings. Polar bears may be hard to see and scanning with binoculars at regular intervals is advisable. Areas of restricted visibility, pushed up sea ice, boulders, driftwood or vegetation should be avoided. Tracks, droppings, and diggings should be carefully sought.

A bear should never be approached. They defend their space and may consider humans as a threat. Bears or other wildlife should never be fed. A bear that associates humans with food is dangerous. A wildlife carcass should never be approached because a bear may be in the area.

Camping on beaches and along coastlines should be avoided. Polar bears often travel along coastlines using points of land and rocky islets near the coast to navigate. Narrow valleys and passes that may be used by bears to cross-peninsulas and to move from one valley to another should be avoided. Camps should be inland, on high ground, with a good view of the surroundings. Bear tracks should be sought before camp is established, and the camp should be moved if there is a bear in the area.

Cooking, cleaning, stored food, stoves, pots, and all cooking gear, including the clothes that are worn for cooking, as well as garbage, food scraps, or any scented products should be stored at least 100 meters from the sleeping area. Bear proof canisters or airtight containers should be used for storage.

Feces should be packed out or buried under rocks away from trails, at least 100 meters from camp (and away from all water sources.) All used toilet paper and feminine hygiene products should be placed in a sealed bag with the garbage. All garbage, including food scraps and packaging, should be packed out. Packaging should not be burned because lingering food odors may attract bears. Any spilled food should be picked up from cooking and eating areas.

Camping, cooking, storage and human waste areas should be positioned so that a clear escape route from a bear is available.

Campers should never sleep in the open without a tent, should never bring strong smelling foods or scented products of any kind, and should never cook or store food or scented products in the tent.

Dealing with Encounters

Polar bears are curious and may investigate any strange object, smell, or noise. Individuals who are objects of such curiosity should stay calm and assess the situation. Each encounter with a polar bear is unique. Good judgment, common sense, and familiarity with polar bear behavior are important.

A bear who knows a human is present may shows signs of curiosity such as moving slowly with frequent stops, standing on hind legs and sniffing the air, holding its head high with ears forward or to the side, moving its head from side to side, or trying to catch a scent by circling downwind and approaching from behind. Individuals should not run, but back away slowly. They can help the bear identify them as human by talking in low tones. Moving slowly upwind of the bear can allow it to get the person's scent, although an escape route for the bear must always be provided.

If a bear has been surprised at close range or shows signs of being agitated or threatened such as huffing, panting, hissing, growling, jaw-snapping, stomping its feet, staring directly at a person, or lowering its head with ears laid back, the individual should not run, but back away slowly. Shouting or sudden movements and direct eye contact should be avoided. Individuals should act non-threatening, but be prepared to use deterrents.

If a bear shows signs of stalking or hunting such as following or circling a person, approaching directly, intent and unafraid, or returning after being scared away, or appears wounded, old, or thin, individuals should not run. They should form a group and make loud noises. They also should be prepared to use deterrents and to fight back.

Humans should never get between a bear and her cubs. If a bear with cubs is encountered. One should not run, except if in for a group. Groups should leave the area immediately. They should be prepared to fight back if she attacks. If a polar bear attack does occur, any available weapon such as rocks, blocks of ice, knives, skis, or poles should be used.

Many websites advise carrying guns in areas where polar bears live. The advisability of carrying such weapons is questionable, unless individuals are quite proficient. Killing a charging bear requires a carefully placed, high caliber shot—often more than one. A wounded bear is far more aggressive than one who is not.

Dealing With An Emergency

Search and rescue capabilities may be limited by terrain, weather and availability of aircraft. Aircraft are limited in areas inhabited by polar bears. Planes and helicopters are rarely stationed in small communities. Air access can be delayed, sometimes for many days, by poor visibility, weather conditions, or high winds. Aircraft can only land if the terrain is safe.

Emergency communication devices such as satellite phones should be carried and the users should be conversant with their operation. Local topography and weather conditions can limit reception. A Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation unit should be carried as well for relaying accurate location coordinates in case of emergency. Batteries do not last as long in cold weather and should be kept warm and used only when necessary.

http://www.polarbearsalive.org/

http://www.nunavutparks.com/visitors_centre/polar_bear_safety.cfm

Injuries Produced By Bears

Bears often attack the face or head first. Injuries are produce by biting, and by clawing and batting with the forelegs. Claws and teeth produce lacerations that sometimes are extensive. Fractures, including skull fractures, are common.

BISON

Most attacks by bison occur in Yellowstone National Park, the home of the largest herd of free ranging animals. An average of three attacks occur annually. Four fatalities have resulted from these attacks since 1975.

Most bison attacks are considered provoked, often by tourists who approach the animals too closely for photographs. However, totally unprovoked attacks also occur. Bison can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds (900 kg) and can run as fast as 35 mph (57 kph). Their potential for injury must be respected.

Injuries from bison attacks include gorings and blunt trauma. The bison's horns may appear inconspicuous but can produce deeply penetrating injuries. Gorings typically involve the buttocks, posterior thighs, and back because the individual is usually running away from the bison. Stomping, butting, and tossing by the bison produce blunt injuries that include fractures and other injuries associated with a fall.

COUGARS

Over eighty cougar attacks have been reported in North America since 1970, mostly in Colorado and California, and the incidence and fatality rate appears to be increasing, in part because humans are encroaching on cougar habitat. However, cougars have no natural enemies anymore and in many areas are protected from hunting, so the population is growing.

Furthermore, cougars are territorial. Older, more mature animals drive young animals out of their territory—even killing them—as soon as the young are ready to leave their mothers. Many of the attacks on humans have been inflicted by young cougars who have been driven into less desirable territory, closer to human habitation.

Attacks are usually unprovoked and predatory. Cougars usually consume humans they have killed. Over 25 percent of the victims have been children.

When faced by a cougar, threatening behavior is best for warding off attacks. Individuals should make noise and open their coats so they look as large as possible. Eye contact should not be avoided. Running only invites attack. If actually assaulted, humans should fight back. Cougars are looking for a meal, not a fight.

Humans who live near cougar habitat should avoid making their homes attractive for cougars. Not only are pets such as dogs and cats an enticement for hungry cougars, residents must not plant vegetation that is attractive for rabbits or other small animals on which these large cats prey.

Injuries are produced by biting and by clawing, and are mostly lacerations and punctures.

ALLIGATORS

In a recent period of seventeen years 127 attacks by alligators and five fatalities—a rate of 4 percent—were reported. Alligator attacks are predatory. Typically the animal grabs its victim with its jaws and rolls under water, drowning its prey.

Individuals who have been attacked should fight back. The 4 percent success rate for animals trying to obtain a meal is not very high.

To avoid alligator attacks individuals should not swim at dusk when alligators are active, should not swim with a dog that would attract alligators, and should not swim alone. Avoiding swimming in bodies of water or streams inhabited by alligators altogether seems eminently reasonable.

However, these beasts can move with surprising speed on land, and individuals standing on the shore have been attacked.

Alligator teeth produce large lacerations, commonly located on the torso as well as the limbs. Their efforts to roll their victims under water produce fractures, many of which are open. Wounds become infected and victims should receive prophylactic antibiotics.

MOOSE, ELK, AND DEER

Attacks by these ungulates are usually provoked, typically by someone inadvertently walking up on them in a forested area. These animals are vegetarians and the attacks are not predatory. If the encounters are in a forest, individuals under attack can climb a tree, or get behind a tree and use it as a shield from the attacking animal.

Injuries produced by these animals include goring with their antlers and injuries produced by trampling or kicking with their hooves, which can be vicious weapons. Butting and even biting injuries also occur.

WOLVES AND COYOTES

Healthy wolves almost never attack humans. Wolves are one of the few animals that will desert their young when approached by humans. A few serious wolf attacks in the wild have been reported in North America, none of them fatal.

In contrast, no other animal becomes as ferociously aggressive when infected by rabies. It seems likely that this species' reputation for savagery is based entirely on the behavior of rabid animals. (Wolf attacks producing 112 deaths a year have been reported from Siberia. The number of rabid animals is unknown.)

Coyote attacks are uncommon, and because these animals are small are usually directed at children. A number of the attacks have occurred in urban surroundings, indicating that the animals were either ill (rabid?) or desperately hungry.

Individuals under attack should fight back. They should not appear docile or try to pet coyotes, no matter how tame they may appear. Children should not be left unattended in areas accessible to coyotes. The injuries produced by wolves and coyotes are essentially the same as those produce by other domestic canines: lacerations and punctures care for individuals attacked by animals.

The wounds inflicted by attacking animals are not significantly different from the soft tissue injuries and fractures produced by other traumatic incidents except for the greater risk of infection.

Prehospital care for these individuals is complicated by one major problem: is the scene safe? Will the attacking animal return? Since each situation is different, no specific rules can be made, but this problem must not be forgotten or ignored.

Otherwise, care for the victims of animal attacks is little different than the care for other accident victims. Rescuers first on the scene should check the ABC's: airway, breathing, and circulation. The severity of the individual's disability must be ascertained, and at some point all clothing should be removed to insure no wounds go undetected and untreated.

Bacteria almost always heavily contaminate animal bite wounds. Lacerations and puncture wounds must be carefully explored and debrided, and must be vigorously irrigated with disinfected water. Foreign material is often introduced by animal wounds and must be carefully sought. Only after thorough cleaning can the wounds be dressed and splinted.

High risk wounds or immunocompromised victims are more dangerous situations. A decision to close lacerations in such circumstances should be made carefully, preferably with subspecialty consultation.

Hand wounds are common because the hands are used to defend against the attacking animal. Such wounds deserve special consideration because the structures are anatomically complex and hand function is so much a part of day-to-day activities. Individuals with severe wounds should probably be evacuated as fast as possible.

Puncture wounds are common, particularly following bites, and must be appropriately treated.

Everyone bitten by a wild animal should be offered postexposure rabies therapy. Tetanus immunization should be administered if the individual has not had a recent booster.

Antibiotic therapy is particularly significant following an animal bite because they wounds are so contaminated. The organisms typically found in bite wounds from some animals are:

•  Bears — Micrococcus and Streptococcus

•  Cats — Pasteurella and Pseudomonas

•  Ungulates — Pasteurella and Acinetobacillus

•  Crocodiles — Aeromonas

Antibiotic therapy should be directed toward the specific pathogens associated with the attacking animal species if possible. Otherwise, broad spectrum antibiotics should be administered. Amoxicillin\clavulanate (Augmentin ® ) is probably the drug of choice in most cases. A cephalosporin with metronidazole, clindamycin and trovafloxacin (? risk), doxycycline, gatifloxacin, or moxifloxacin are other alternatives

AFRICAN AND ASIAN LARGE ANIMAL ATTACKS

ELEPHANTS

Attacks by elephants, the largest of the “large animals,” produce 200 to 500 fatalities a year. Most attacks are provoked although “rogue” elephants are occasionally responsible. Trampling, goring, tossing the individual with the trunk, or crushing him with the knees produces the injuries.

BIG CATS

Tigers kill 600 to 800 people a year in India. This animal is the number one “man-killer” worldwide, at least on land. Lions are responsible for 300 to 500 deaths a year in Africa. Leopards kill about 400 individuals a year in Africa. A number of the victims are killed by the attack, but many die from infection.

CROCODILES

In Australia sixteen attacks and four deaths from attacks by crocodiles were recorded over a ten-year period. In contrast, crocodiles kill over a thousand individuals a year in Africa. Crocodiles have been witnessed scavenging for babies and young children in the Nile.

BLACK RHINOCEROS

These beasts kill many in Africa. They have such poor eyesight they may

charge anything that moves, even trains.

HIPPOPOTAMUS

This ungainly appearing animal can move at speeds as high as 45 mph (74 kph.) It is responsible for 200 to 300 human deaths a year. It is known to swim underwater and attack boats, biting canoes in half. However, most attacks occur on land and are inflicted on individuals who get between an animal and the water in which it spends most of its time. Refusing to believe how rapidly hippos can run contributes to the death of many individuals.

CAPE BUFFALO

These animals are notorious for unprovoked attacks, but kill only twenty to 100 persons a year.

HYENA

These animals attack sleeping natives—or campers—commonly decapitating them or producing massive facial trauma. It is a more consistent “man-eater” than lions or tigers.