What are the natural predators of humans? If there are none, why are there none?
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Before the advent of modern tools/weapons/fire basically any carnivore larger than your average human was a natural predator. Now, I’d argue that our greatest natural predator are ironically much smaller in the form of bacteria, parasites and viruses. They mutate far quicker than many of our advances in modern medicine and are one of the largest natural killers of the human species as a whole.
predation involves a lot of opportunity. humans have banded together for protection from other animals that are better quipped with teeth and claws for a long time. if someone just walked alone into the Sierra mountains a mountain lion will eventually show up and evaluate how easy it would be to break their spine. we’ve created less opportunities for these predators to harm us if given the chance. arguably our biggest predator is each other bc humans kill a lot more people over a long period of time than a tiger or a bear.
Humans are occasionally eaten by predators such as alligators, crocodiles, big cats, bears, & wolves. It’s rare because we don’t really live *in nature* with the animals that might eat us.
Most of modern humanity is lucky enough to live in communities far enough away from where their prey lives where they aren’t regularly threatened with predation.
[Here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-eater#:~:text=However%2C%20all%20three%20cases%20(especially,development%20of%20man%2Deating%20behavior.&text=Most%20reported%20cases%20of%20man,polar%20bears%2C%20and%20large%20crocodilians.) is a wikipedia article about *man-eaters*.
Litterally everything was. But then man put stick on rock and now we litterally own the whole planet and go to war with ourselves because animals got too weak
We were the only ones to evolve the tools we used. Eventually we mixed saltpeter, copper and lead.
There are none.
People are citing animals that can eat us, but with the exception of crocodiles(that will basically try to eat anything that gets nearby) none of them will hunt humans. The reason for this, is because we don’t share the same environment as those animals, and although, for example, a grizzly bear can easily kill us without any effort, if they never saw a human, they won’t be sure, and won’t take this risk unless they really need to.
Most cases of man-eaters are a mix of the animal being hungry, not being able to hunt their normal prey (e.g. old age), and losing fear of humans (that’s basically what happened to Puma’s behavior on recent years in NA) .
I think it depends on how you define ‘human’. To me, the use of technology is inextricably linked to the concept of ‘human’.
If you take a human and take from them everything that *makes* them human (society, tools, planning, …), you will find the creature that remains to be quite easy prey.
But humans are neither alone, nor defenseless, nor oblivious. Humans are insidious, meticulous and ingenuous; far more so than any species of animal on this planet. A pack of wolves with their sharp fangs might seem scary, but the scariest thing on the planet is a pack of humans with guns.
We have no natural predators left because we hunted them all to near extinction the moment we invented the means to do so. The only natural predator left is the fellow human.
A lot of people have commented as to why, but here’s a short list of some animals who absolutely do still see us as reasonable members of their food chain:
– large crocodiles
– hyenas
– some lions & tigers (you can find a Wikipedia page that tells you about the man eating lions and tigers – they end up documented)
– polar bears
Polar bears will actively try to hunt you if you aren’t careful. Hyenas scout through African villages at night, looking for easy meals.
The idea that nothing hunts us is an illusion granted to you by you living in relatively developed society.
A lot of animals might predate on humans opportunistically or in defense (bears, lions, crocodiles, etc), but they won’t seek out humans as prey because the risk:reward ratio doesn’t make it worth the energy expenditure. It’s easier and safer for them to hunt other animals with less intelligence and endurance.
Technically any wild animal is a natural predator of humans. We’ve always been reliant on tools and shelter to defend ourselves, and that reliance has only been reinforced by our advancements.
Most people couldn’t defend themselves against a wild animal even if they had a weapon. So we built big strong walls, doors that lock tightly, and a sturdy roof above our heads to protect us from the ever-present danger that “outside” presents to us lol.
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