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The Tsavo Man-Eaters on display in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.
A man-eater is a colloquial term for an animal that preys on human beings for its diet. Although human beings can be attacked by many kinds of animals, man-eaters are those that have incorporated human flesh into their usual diet. Most reported cases of man-eaters have involved tigers, leopards, sharks, crocodiles and lions. Contrary to misconceptions, animals become man-eaters when their natural habitat and diet is diminished, or suffering from an injury or ailment that impedes their hunting their usual prey.
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Human beings are not a part of the natural diet of any known animal. Thus the prevalence of man-eaters is rare and occur in special circumstances. Human beings are susceptible to attack by animals that seek to defend themselves, their young or their territory, but are not usually preyed upon. An animal may become a man-eater if their natural prey or habitat become unavailable or inaccessible and may take to preying upon humans if it discovers that humans are animals that can be killed and consumed.Corbett, Jim (1944). Man-eaters of Kumaon. Oxford University Press, viii-xiii. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0211_030211_tsavolions.html Man-eating Lions not aberrant] Predators that suffer injuries or disabilities that make their natural prey more difficult to pursue may take to hunting human beings in order to avoid starvation and survive. The loss of teeth or claws, a gunshot wound or any injury that may impede the animal\'s ability to run, bite or chew its food or induce great debilitating pain have been noted in most cases of man-eaters. However, some studies have shown that perfectly healthy animals may also become man-eaters if provided an opportunity to consume human flesh in the absence of their natural diet.Gnoske, Thomas and Julian Kerbis Peterhans (2003). "Field Museum uncovers evidence behind man-eating; revises legend of its infamous man-eating lions". Journal of East African Natural History. Animals with scavenging tendencies, such as leopards have been known to learn to feed upon the carcasses of human beings disposed in the open. The young of man-eating animals do not necessarily become man-eaters; while the young will eat what is provided by the parent, maturity and independent existence will normally revert the animal to its natural diet and conditions.Corbett, Jim (1944). Man-eaters of Kumaon. Oxford University Press, viii-xiii. The frequency of attacks on human beings for food may depend on the availability of natural food, especially if the animal is providing for its young or the nature of the injury that forced the animal to become a man-eater.
An infamous series of shark attacks along the coast of New Jersey claimed the lives of 4 people and injured 1, between July 1 and July 12, 1916. The unknown species of shark attacked human beings in areas of shallow waters away from the ocean, at a time when a large segment of the population were vacationing at the beaches of the Jersey shore.
In March 1898, a pair of mane-less lions killed an estimated 28 people (by other estimates, 135Patterson, Bruce D. (2004). The Lions of Tsavo : Exploring the Legacy of Africa\'s Notorious Man-Eaters. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0071363335. ) near the construction site of the Uganda Railway along the Tsavo River.Gnoske, Thomas and Julian Kerbis Peterhans (2003). "Field Museum uncovers evidence behind man-eating; revises legend of its infamous man-eating lions". Journal of East African Natural History. There is speculation that the maneaters in the region had developed a taste for humans as a result of the slave trade. Another theory suggests that an outbreak of rinderpest disease had decimated the lions\' usual prey, forcing them to find alternative food sources.http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0211_030211_tsavolions.html Man-eating Lions not aberrant] Upon examining the skulls and jaws of the lions in the 1990s, some scientists concluded that the two were suffering from abscesses in their gums, and were in too much pain to hunt tougher animals. This theory was discussed on the National Geographic Channel explaining how abscesses in the gums force the lions to take on easier prey, both "slower and more fragile". There has also been a confirmed link to the man eater attacks in Tanzania. Both lions were mane-less and had abscesses in their gums. The attacks could also be related to the lions scavenging the bodies of improperly buried railroad workers.
In the early part of the 20th century, a series of tigers and leopards attacked humans in the Kumaon region of the United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh) of British-ruled India. Close to a thousand deaths have been credited to these man-eaters, who were investigated by the Forest Department of the United Provinces government and hunted by government-commissioned and private sportsmen such as the famous hunter-naturalist Jim Corbett, who documented the cases of man-eaters he personally tackled in his book The Man-eaters of Kumaon.
One of the most notorious man-eaters was the Champawat Tigress, which killed an estimated 200 people in Nepal before being driven out to the Kumaon region, where another 236 were killed in the 19th century before Corbett successfully hunted the animal in 1907.Corbett, Jim (1944). Man-eaters of Kumaon. Oxford University Press, 1 - 27. The Leopard of Rudraprayag terrorized the area between 2 Hindu shrines near Kedarnath and Badrinath between 1917 and 1925; Corbett was commissioned especially by the British Parliament to hunt down the leopard. Corbett discovered that the leopard that became a man-eater after scavenging on human corpses that had been disposed of in valleys, as epidemics of cholera had led to the deaths of thousands of people within a short period of time, making normal cremation or burial difficult.Corbett, Jim (1944). Man-eaters of Kumaon. Oxford University Press, viii-xiii.
The Sundarbans are home to approximately 600 Royal Bengal TigersTheories on Sundarbans Man-eaters that are well-known for the substantial number of people they kill; estimates range from 100-250 people per year. They are the only man-eating tigers left in the world, though they are not the only tigers who live in close proximity to humans. A theory promoted to explain this suggests that since tigers drink fresh water, the salinity of the area waters serve as a destabilizing factor in the diet and life of tigers of Sundarbans, keeping them in constant discomfort and making them extremely aggressive. Other theories include the sharing of their habitat with human beings and the consumption of human corpses during floods.Theories on Sundarbans Man-eaters
Attacks on human beings for food have caused the demonizing of the predatory animals in question. The fear caused by the prospect of an attack has encouraged the hunting of tigers, leopards and lions for sport and the extermination or driving out predatory animals from territories close to human settlement; the harassment and hunting of such animals has been coupled with the destruction of their natural habitats. Fear of attacks on humans has inspired folklore, superstition, legends and tales characterizing predatory animals as evil.Corbett, Jim (1944). Man-eaters of Kumaon. Oxford University Press, viii-xiii. The impact of the Jersey shore shark attacks was the use of sharks as symbols of evils and enemies in political cartoons and caricatures of all kinds of negative developments and occurrences.Fernicola, Twelve Days of Terror, p. 33.
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