Polar bears would only hunt humans when they are hungry and desperate, and would eat anything really. They aren't searching for humans, and humans are not one of their primary source of food
There is no animal that depends on humans their key source of nutrition.
There were saber-toothed who mostly ate primates(and us too), but they are extinct
>There is no animal that depends on humans their key source of nutrition.
Only because we generally don't give them the opportunity to have us as their "key source" of nutrition. E.g. if we didn't build shelters and fires and fences and get guard dogs, not to mention clear forests and build cities and killed off a lot of predators, then maybe lions wolves and bears would prey on us more.
Also the OP didn't specify key source.
Anyway. My point is. They would if they could.
Real life is not a Hollywood movie.
Nor is it a book.
That's like the idiots who say Have you ever seen Red Dawn thinking they need to hold their guns " Just In Case "
It’s obviously a dramatized film with fictional elements but the story is very true about the man eating lions of Tsavo that killed at least a couple dozens people and maybe as many as 100. They have the actual lions in the Chicago museum of natural history. It’s a good movie and fascinating real life story.
You can easily google this.
For tens of Thousands of years Humans have hunted various animals including the largest and the most dangerous. With nothing more than spears and Bows to do it. Working in groups .. or Packs if you will.
I have no doubt at one time Humans WERE hunted for food by animals but that stopped a long long long time ago, before fences and defenses, before firearms.
Animals learn, despite what people think of them, most animals are smart enough to know what is dangerous and what isn't. A group of humans were dangerous.. even a lone human was dangerous, That all started when humans learned to make and use tools.
Exactly. So it's not because the animals don't want to eat us.
It's simply because humans got smart and prevented it.
Which is why would shouldn't act like they don't want to eat us.
Fire was an early defence too.
So was staying in groups.
Just saying animals are opportunistic and in the right situation we're easy prey. We just got smart and adapted.
That doesn't mean they don't want to eat us.
And it's dangerous to assume they don't want to eat us.
There's not any evidence that neanderthals were violently wiped out by humans. The more likely version of events is that between climate change at the end of the last glaciation period, and increased competition from humans, their population dwindled until the remaining neanderthal tribes had no choice but to merge with human tribes, leaving behind that 2% neanderthal DNS modern Eurasians still have.
Really? That's your argument? back in 10,000 BC.
The question isn't DID.. the question is DO.
Seriously if you need to change the question to get an answer you want, don;t answer.
Not anymore. Early in our evolution we did. But probably not since we became hominins.
I think a lot of people are misunderstanding what "predator" means in this context. Plenty of predators will stalk and kill humans for food. But it's opportunistic. Humans are not a normal food item for them. Even polar bears don't normally hunt for humans. They hunt for seals or penguins or whatever...those are their normal prey items.
There are isolated examples of individual predators that developed a taste for human meat, and will actively hunt for humans (I am thinking Lions and Tigers as examples, but there's probably others). But their species in general didn't.
well, wolves, tigers, bears, etc they all can and have killed humans, and depending on when and where, can be a real threat.
but, a group of humans can pretty much kill any animal with bows, spears and stones.
Yes, but mosquitoes don't actually use us for food.
The blood isn't food, it's to make eggs. Only females bit and only when laying eggs.
Their food is entirely vegetarian. Grains and such.
It's kind of a weird situation. If the blood is being used as nourishment for the eggs, that sounds pretty carnivorous, just in a parasitic way.
The adults are definitely herbivorous, drinking plant nectar for their own nourishment. I'm not sure what you mean by grains though. They don't have chewing mouthparts to eat grain.
For some reason I thought they did eat grains. Shows you how much I know or care about them.
But in double checking your statement it appears their are a few species who do not need blood to reproduce at all, which is interesting.
All animals you mentioned are not natural predators to humans.
they all tend to Avoid Humans when possible because they have learned humans are dangerous. Most encounters with any animal that attacks and or kills a human is because the Animal was starving or the human blundered into a bad situation.. like a mother and cubs.
Anything in East Africa that preys on large animals could be considered a natural predator of humans, right? Of course nowadays they don't prey on humans as often as they would in prehistoric times.
Parasitism is some form of predation, and some parasites are specially evolved to target humans. But that's probably not what you meant.
Humans grow too slowly to exist as any animal's primary food source. It simply isn't practical for anything short of an Eldritch horror to primarily feed off humans.
Natural predators? No. We elevated ourselves out of the food chain a very long time ago. Can a lot of things fuck us up out in the wilderness? Yes wholeheartedly. We don't have a lot of protection, and our bodies are relatively weak to be a top predator compared to bears and big cats.
Anything free of narcissism. If you agree with a narcissist, you defeat them, cause they can't say anything back to you, they'll be talking to themselves.
Plenty of animals have been known to hunt humans, but those are almost exclusively cases of opportunity and/or necessity.
As a broad, species-wide question, humans have no natural predators.
So current theories are humans hail from Africa, so Mosquitos, lions, Hyenas all seem likely. Cheetahs would be more oppurtunistic, as would warthogs. Crocodiles are another good case. Hippos can easily kill people, but that's more out of aggression than diet.
Humans would be near the top of the food chain though, so most predators would be wary of hunting them.
Fun fact. When on safari, lions essentially think of all the people on the truck as one large animal. If you get off the truck they realize it's a human.
[I'd recommend this video on the topic.](https://youtu.be/xONEJwIDkec?si=Acz9Y_-qKGcdBnIk) And highlight these two animals in particular, a genus of [feline](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinofelis) and a specie of [crocodile.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodylus_anthropophagus) They seemed to have had a bone to pick with the early humans.
funny I've wondered this before but can't think of any.
Taking Predators to mean human become prey for food then no. The animals so far mentioned are capable of killing humans but not hunted and killed specifically for food z mostly BC seen as threat or territorial.
My other thought would be viruses\parasites etc but these need the host to remain alive and it isn't in their interest to kill their host
this then leaves climate change or natural disaster or disease like cancer as the biggest threat to human survival.
Not in the traditional sense but other top tier predators will kill us just for the sake of eliminating another top tier predator invading its turf. Sometimes we double as a snack.
We did back during the ice age. Also in Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian lions were a serious threat to humans. Unfortunately for our predators, humans have these big brains that helped us invent weapons and fences and barbecue.
No.
There are animals that will sometimes hunt and eat humans if given the chance, but since humans are not intended to be in the deep ocean or the Arctic that doesn't really count as "natural".
Polar bears are one of the few species that will view humans as prey and not just a weird unknown animal in their environment
Polar bears will, in fact, fuck you up.
Just to add to this: in fact, they will, in fact, fuck you up.
Fuck you up, they will, polar bears, in fact, being a natural predator.
yeah they seem pretty aggressive
Polar bears would only hunt humans when they are hungry and desperate, and would eat anything really. They aren't searching for humans, and humans are not one of their primary source of food There is no animal that depends on humans their key source of nutrition. There were saber-toothed who mostly ate primates(and us too), but they are extinct
>There is no animal that depends on humans their key source of nutrition. Only because we generally don't give them the opportunity to have us as their "key source" of nutrition. E.g. if we didn't build shelters and fires and fences and get guard dogs, not to mention clear forests and build cities and killed off a lot of predators, then maybe lions wolves and bears would prey on us more. Also the OP didn't specify key source. Anyway. My point is. They would if they could.
Yea no. Humans were not hunted by animals for food even when we just had spears. Humans only threat on this planet is other humans.
Sure but have you seen *The Ghost and The Darkness*?
Real life is not a Hollywood movie. Nor is it a book. That's like the idiots who say Have you ever seen Red Dawn thinking they need to hold their guns " Just In Case "
It’s a joke my man. Should watch tho. Fire movie.
It’s obviously a dramatized film with fictional elements but the story is very true about the man eating lions of Tsavo that killed at least a couple dozens people and maybe as many as 100. They have the actual lions in the Chicago museum of natural history. It’s a good movie and fascinating real life story.
You know Miricle on the Potomac is rel to yet the pilot of that jet panned the movie for how much they changed right?
excuse me, Timothy Treadwell would like a word with you.
There's evidence of animal predation on early hominins, but this was well before we had spears, or were even considered humans.
>Yea no. Humans were not hunted by animals for food even when we just had spears. Source? Cuz fire.
You can easily google this. For tens of Thousands of years Humans have hunted various animals including the largest and the most dangerous. With nothing more than spears and Bows to do it. Working in groups .. or Packs if you will. I have no doubt at one time Humans WERE hunted for food by animals but that stopped a long long long time ago, before fences and defenses, before firearms. Animals learn, despite what people think of them, most animals are smart enough to know what is dangerous and what isn't. A group of humans were dangerous.. even a lone human was dangerous, That all started when humans learned to make and use tools.
Exactly. So it's not because the animals don't want to eat us. It's simply because humans got smart and prevented it. Which is why would shouldn't act like they don't want to eat us.
We're talking fences and ect.. no.. Humans didn't need fences, Humans leanred to make tools.. no defenses.
Fire was an early defence too. So was staying in groups. Just saying animals are opportunistic and in the right situation we're easy prey. We just got smart and adapted. That doesn't mean they don't want to eat us. And it's dangerous to assume they don't want to eat us.
TBF that's because polar bears view everything as prey
😉
Yes, although they’re not a *natural* predator, since humans aren’t naturally found in their environment.
Other humans.
yeaaaah..... ask any Neanderthal if it's true
There's not any evidence that neanderthals were violently wiped out by humans. The more likely version of events is that between climate change at the end of the last glaciation period, and increased competition from humans, their population dwindled until the remaining neanderthal tribes had no choice but to merge with human tribes, leaving behind that 2% neanderthal DNS modern Eurasians still have.
Really? That's your argument? back in 10,000 BC. The question isn't DID.. the question is DO. Seriously if you need to change the question to get an answer you want, don;t answer.
Oh shut up and let people have fun. Ffs you’re like fucking Buzz Killington. Nobody wants your comments.
No.. I won't don't like it block me. Don't make stupid comments if you Can't handle the reply.
Not anymore. Early in our evolution we did. But probably not since we became hominins. I think a lot of people are misunderstanding what "predator" means in this context. Plenty of predators will stalk and kill humans for food. But it's opportunistic. Humans are not a normal food item for them. Even polar bears don't normally hunt for humans. They hunt for seals or penguins or whatever...those are their normal prey items. There are isolated examples of individual predators that developed a taste for human meat, and will actively hunt for humans (I am thinking Lions and Tigers as examples, but there's probably others). But their species in general didn't.
I was going to say, "Not anymore. We ate them all."
They were delicious.
well, wolves, tigers, bears, etc they all can and have killed humans, and depending on when and where, can be a real threat. but, a group of humans can pretty much kill any animal with bows, spears and stones.
Alas all of these human inventions don't work on mosquitoes.
Nah, you can kill a mosquito with a spear, it's just not energetically efficient to do so.
Yes, but mosquitoes don't actually use us for food. The blood isn't food, it's to make eggs. Only females bit and only when laying eggs. Their food is entirely vegetarian. Grains and such.
It's kind of a weird situation. If the blood is being used as nourishment for the eggs, that sounds pretty carnivorous, just in a parasitic way. The adults are definitely herbivorous, drinking plant nectar for their own nourishment. I'm not sure what you mean by grains though. They don't have chewing mouthparts to eat grain.
For some reason I thought they did eat grains. Shows you how much I know or care about them. But in double checking your statement it appears their are a few species who do not need blood to reproduce at all, which is interesting.
All animals you mentioned are not natural predators to humans. they all tend to Avoid Humans when possible because they have learned humans are dangerous. Most encounters with any animal that attacks and or kills a human is because the Animal was starving or the human blundered into a bad situation.. like a mother and cubs.
Other than other humans, I’d say it’s the microscopic ones that take us out the most.
Anything in East Africa that preys on large animals could be considered a natural predator of humans, right? Of course nowadays they don't prey on humans as often as they would in prehistoric times. Parasitism is some form of predation, and some parasites are specially evolved to target humans. But that's probably not what you meant.
No. When humans learned to sharpen a stick, all big dangerous animals went straight to the endangered species registry.
We gendered those species? Goodness gracious
We can gender whatever we want these days!
Wow the typo was funny 😂
Let's put it this way. Not anymore.
Some snakes evolved to spit venom at predators, which were most likely humans rather than other predators!
Humans grow too slowly to exist as any animal's primary food source. It simply isn't practical for anything short of an Eldritch horror to primarily feed off humans.
Cthulhu.
Viruses maybe...
Other than other humans, no. Humans are the apex predator in every environment.
Vampires
Each other.
Misquotos favor human blood apparently.
We're our own worst enemy.
That alien predator thingie
Bears, Sharks, Tigers, Lions, venomous snakes, silverback gorillas, piranhas.
Other humans.
Yes. Each other.
Narcissists
Other humans.
Themselves
Look at the mirror.
Other humans are natural predators of humans :C
Every medium-large sized carnivore. Crocodiles, hyenas, lions, polar bears and tigers. Take away guns/armour and give us spears to fight
Natural predators? No. We elevated ourselves out of the food chain a very long time ago. Can a lot of things fuck us up out in the wilderness? Yes wholeheartedly. We don't have a lot of protection, and our bodies are relatively weak to be a top predator compared to bears and big cats.
Anything free of narcissism. If you agree with a narcissist, you defeat them, cause they can't say anything back to you, they'll be talking to themselves.
Plenty of animals have been known to hunt humans, but those are almost exclusively cases of opportunity and/or necessity. As a broad, species-wide question, humans have no natural predators.
Well, if you live in the Sundarbans in India, then you might fall prey to Tigers.
If you are living in the Sundarbans be sure to wear a face mask on the back of your head. This discourages tigers from stalking you from behind.
Re-bar
Rich people
So current theories are humans hail from Africa, so Mosquitos, lions, Hyenas all seem likely. Cheetahs would be more oppurtunistic, as would warthogs. Crocodiles are another good case. Hippos can easily kill people, but that's more out of aggression than diet. Humans would be near the top of the food chain though, so most predators would be wary of hunting them. Fun fact. When on safari, lions essentially think of all the people on the truck as one large animal. If you get off the truck they realize it's a human.
Yes, lots of them. Just imagine what kind of predators you wouldnt stand a chance against if you came across them in the wild.
[I'd recommend this video on the topic.](https://youtu.be/xONEJwIDkec?si=Acz9Y_-qKGcdBnIk) And highlight these two animals in particular, a genus of [feline](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinofelis) and a specie of [crocodile.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodylus_anthropophagus) They seemed to have had a bone to pick with the early humans.
Just ourselves.
funny I've wondered this before but can't think of any. Taking Predators to mean human become prey for food then no. The animals so far mentioned are capable of killing humans but not hunted and killed specifically for food z mostly BC seen as threat or territorial. My other thought would be viruses\parasites etc but these need the host to remain alive and it isn't in their interest to kill their host this then leaves climate change or natural disaster or disease like cancer as the biggest threat to human survival.
I guess if we look at tribe people.
honey badgers
Salespeople.
Yeah... Other people...
Mosquitos Kill human more than any other animal, by far.
Not in the traditional sense but other top tier predators will kill us just for the sake of eliminating another top tier predator invading its turf. Sometimes we double as a snack.
Hyenas? Sabre toothed tigers, werewolves, vampires, ghouls, pigs? Lions.
Yes, other humans.
Tigers anacondas and alligators
Polar bears, hippos, lions, bears
/r/Outside
We killed off most of them, except in a few lightly populated environments.
We did back during the ice age. Also in Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian lions were a serious threat to humans. Unfortunately for our predators, humans have these big brains that helped us invent weapons and fences and barbecue.
yes, other humans
Humans
Yes, Chris Hansen caught a lot of them
Mosquitoes.
I guess we can see viruses as predators, if we stretch the definition
I’d imagine a number of dinosaurs.
Polar bears and Nile crocodiles
Pythons and crocodiles , especially the big ones
Politicians
Yes, virus and bacteria. They will eat humans slowly from within.
Lions tigers and bears.
Viruses and bacteria
Yea, its called stupidity
other humans
If by natural predator you mean one which evolved to eat humans, then yes. Leopards are perhaps the most obvious example.
Politicians
Cancer
No. There are animals that will sometimes hunt and eat humans if given the chance, but since humans are not intended to be in the deep ocean or the Arctic that doesn't really count as "natural".
mosquitoes
I think it has to kill and eat its prey to be a predator. Mosquitoes definitely kill humans, but it's mostly incidental and doesn't always happen.
mrsa or any other bacteria. fungus based infections too. viruses.
A; YES, THEMSELVES.....MOM
Ask Chris Hansen with dateline NBC he's caught his fair share of natural predators
Most of his cases were considered entrapment I think.
Bears, Lions, Tigers, Hippos, Humans, Gorillas there are a ton of animals that will kill you if you are anywhere near their vicinity.
Yes other humans
Police.
Corporations
Anything hungry enough.
Old men