They don’t really prey on humans & we coexisted without much issues for humans (very much a lot of issues for them).
Eating a baby every so many years doesn’t really count, in nature it’s usually disregarded even if a regular thing bcs of the size difference (and the mortality rate to adulthood). A bit along the lines that babies of all species are food & that doesn’t give you much representative info.
With polar bears, even with villages in the migrating area (their ecosystem is shrinking rapidly), you just can’t be outside, they will munch you.
Hikers can hike through woods with wolves, you can park your car next to lions, … tigers would be borderline (and endangered), but it seems they fear us, they fear injury & our unpredictability. Polar bears don’t back off.
shneancy@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
we made doggos out of wolves :)
but lions and tigers… guess they were harder to spot among the foliage
emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 5 hours ago
Lions live in the savanna and grassland. They can hide among the grass, but they generally hunt by chasing prey in turns until the prey tires. Tigers are ambush predators and excellent at hiding.
Healthy lions and tigers do not hunt humans. They can kill humans pretty easily, but prefer meatier prey. But when they get too old / sick to hunt wild animals, they might hunt humans out of desperation.
Also Asian lions have become used to humans since their protected area has tribal settlements and is surrounded by villages. Local people sometimes feed the lions, and on youtube you can find videos of people even touching them. (This is dangerous, messes with the lions’ ecology and is illegal, but people do it and stopping them now might cause new problems.)
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 5 hours ago
Sounds like the beginning of a domestication process. RemindMe in 1000 years.
Nikelui@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Have you tried with catnip?
hector@lemmy.today 4 hours ago
Actually dogs are a distinct lineage that shares a common ancestor with wolves. Our pals are more closlely related to african painted dogs or India’s endangered dhols. Maybe dingos count, idk if jackals are dogs actually, but I think that’s about it for wild dogs left.