why does playing dead work to avoid getting attacked by brown bears? Wouldn’t they want to eat you more if they thought you were dead and thus couldn’t fight back?

Question

why does playing dead work to avoid getting attacked by brown bears? Wouldn’t they want to eat you more if they thought you were dead and thus couldn’t fight back?

In: Biology

Answer 1

The overwhelming majority of bear attacks are from brown bear mothers that are protecting their cubs from a perceived threat.

Unless they’re starving, bears generally won’t attack humans for the sake of sustenance.

Polar bears will absolutely hunt humans as a food source but encounters between humans and polar bears are quite rare.