Australia has a well-deserved reputation for having a variety of nasty creatures that can – and occasionally do – injure or kill humans.
When you think about the potential threat posed by snakes, spiders, dingoes, and crocs, as well as sharks, jellyfish, and even cassowaries and kangaroos, it’s no wonder some grey nomads are wary when setting up camp.
Attacks on humans are, of course, nothing new but it seems that wildlife is currently a little ‘angrier’ than usual.
Aside from the mouse plague wreaking havoc across New South Wales and the tiny Singapore ants invading towns in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the ‘usual suspects’ are also making headlines. There have several dingo attacks on Fraser Island in recent weeks, and a five-metre croc scared the life out of four fishermen in Kakadu when it jumped out of the South Alligator river into their boat.
And fisherman Bob Thatcher was presented with something of a dilemma when he spotted a tiger snake in his four-metre tinny while 11 kilometres from shore on Lake Wellington, in eastern Victoria. It was only when the reptile slithered away from the anchor that Bob was able to take the nerve-wracking half-hour trip back to dry land.
But weird things aren’t just happening in Australia. In the US, Cinda Mickols found her house under siege from 20 endangered Giant California Condors. The birds trashed her deck, knocked over plants, scratched railings, and pooped everywhere.
Elsewhere in the US in recent days, a woman has been attacked by a bobcat, a raccoon has savaged a child, and a rabid skunk has bitten a woman. And then, of course, there have been the usual sporadic attacks by mountain lions and bears, including one in Colorado last week in which a woman was killed.
So, what’s going on?
A study by Spanish researcher Vincenzo Penteriani said the increasing frequency of animal attacks can at least be partly explained by conservation efforts that have seen carnivore populations explode.
And then there’s the fact that humans are spending more time enjoying the great outdoors … and not always safely.
“From an early age most of us learn social norms, rules, and how to decrease risks in urban environmental settings,” write the researchers. “But less effort is expended to teach us how to safely enjoy outdoor activities.”
Indeed, nearly half of all properly documented attacks are associated with unnecessarily risky human behaviour. This may be people hiking alone at twilight, or social media fans attempting to take selfies with wild animals.
And that’s before we get into those who feed wildlife, or fishermen who wade into tropical waters!
Today’s news had a story that attributed recent attacks by cassowaries in Nth Queensland to the fact tourists are feeding them – apparently the cassowaries then start looking for more tourists and follow them seeking easy food source.
Maybe the animals in OZ are getting more nasty than before because there are more ‘human’ animals annoying them now.
It’s because of all the assertiveness training they are receiving !