THE ECOLOGY OF FEAR: The Apex Predator Inspires Superfear Across All Life on Earth

Photo by: Anette Mossbacher, 29 September 2023 / anettemossbacher.com

For centuries, lions have been regarded as the most fearsome land predators. However, in the «ecology of fear», they lost their crown long ago. It doesn’t take a PhD to grasp a simple truth: humans are the ultimate apex predator, singularly dominating the top of the planetary food chain. Moreover, such a terrifying predator has never existed in the history of Earth. By studying animal behavior, scientists have discovered that the fear animals experience toward humans far surpasses their fear of the so-called king of beasts.

MORE DANGEROUS THAN ANY BEAST

group of scientists from the University of Victoria in Canada once compared human behavior to that of predators and concluded that humans are 14 times deadlier than any animal. For instance, humans are more efficient at depleting fish populations. A bear or another predatory fisher primarily targets young fish and never depletes more than 2% of a population.

In contrast, humans kill adult fish on an industrial scale, preventing them from reproducing. Scientists note that in nature, predator and prey populations are always in balance. With humans, it’s a different story.

Our behavior, which drives countless species to the brink of extinction and destroys their habitats, is unprecedented in the animal kingdom. It raises a crucial question: what happens to the superpredator population when its prey falls to a critical minimum?

FIRST, THEY HUNTED US, NOW WE HUNT THEM

For millions of years, hominids were not predators but prey. Given their relatively weak muscles and lack of sharp teeth or claws, this is hardly surprising. Early humans could be devoured by any number of predators: large cats, cave bears, or massive lizards. Even today, the natural world doesn’t let modern humans forget its presence.

According to a recent study funded by Bill Gates, snakes kill 50,000 people annually, domestic dogs 20,000, crocodiles 1,000, lions 100, and sharks 10. Yet all these human killers pale in comparison to humans themselves, who take the lives of at least half a million of their own species each year.

Genocide claims the lives of both humans and animals indiscriminately — superpredators don’t see much difference between them.

By the 1970s, Australia had wiped out 200,000 saltwater crocodiles, leaving them on the verge of extinction. Around the same number of Chinese were killed by the Japanese during the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. However, unlike humans, we will never again encounter the dodo bird, the Tasmanian tiger, or the eight-meter-long Megalania lizard…

CAN THERE BE ONLY ONE?

Humans didn’t become superpredators overnight. Cave paintings left by our ancestors tell of numerous battles with cave bears over dwellings that new masters claimed as their own. Archaeological sites often contain heaps of bear bones. But this was just the beginning.

Approximately 14,000 years ago, an ecological catastrophe occurred — mammoths and other large herbivores went extinct. This extinction likely had multiple causes, including climate change, but our species undoubtedly played a significant role. And from there, it only escalated.

Hunting has long ceased to be about sustenance and has become an activity associated with high social status. Lions once roamed vast areas across Africa and Asia. Five thousand years ago, they could be found in what is now Ukraine; two thousand years ago, they roamed Greece, where, according to myth, the mighty Heracles famously tore their jaws apart.

Today, the small Gir Forest in India is the sole refuge for the dwindling population of Asiatic lions. Their continued existence is a stroke of luck, considering that lion hunting was once a must-have entertainment offered by hospitable Indian rajas to British officers.

KINGS OF MEN VERSUS THE KING OF BEASTS

Killing large predators has always been a matter of prestige. Pharaoh Amenhotep proudly boasted of having killed a hundred lions. Tutankhamun, who lived half a century later, was less fortunate — he managed to kill only about ten. Clearly, his predecessors had done their work well, making it increasingly difficult for a pharaoh to find a living king of beasts.

Over time, the genocide of large predators only accelerated. Monarchs throughout history — from Xerxes to King David — considered it their royal duty to kill at least one king of beasts during their lifetime. In Roman arenas, lions, tigers, elephants, hippos, and other animals faced a conveyor belt of death.

One of the most notorious spectacles was organized by Pompey, who slaughtered 600 Barbary lions, the largest subspecies of lion, in a single event. Needless to say, this subspecies no longer exists today.

The same fate befell the Caspian tiger, which was often pitted against Barbary lions in Roman arenas.

THE HUMAN VOICE — A VOICE OF DEATH

Humans have terrorized life on Earth for so long that animals are beginning to adapt to human cruelty. For instance, African elephants have been observed evolving into smaller tusks, making them less valuable to poachers.

The fear animals feel toward the «king of nature» now far surpasses their fear of the king of beasts. The reason lies in humans’ unparalleled lethality — they kill their prey far more frequently than other predators. Animals are acutely aware of this.

The journal Current Biology published research conducted in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, home to one of the world’s largest lion populations. Scientists sought to understand how 19 mammal species react to various sounds, including lion vocalizations, dog barking, gunshots, and human voices.

The human voices were recordings of ordinary television and radio broadcasts in English and regional languages, played through special systems set up near watering holes. The reactions of animals visiting these areas were recorded around the clock over several months, accumulating about 15,000 episodes.

FEAR FOR GOOD

When the data was analyzed, it revealed that animals were twice as likely to flee from the sound of ordinary human voices than from lion roars, hunting gunshots, or barking dogs. This reaction was observed in 95% of the animals studied — giraffes, leopards, hyenas, zebras, kudu, warthogs, impalas, elephants, and rhinos — all quickly abandoned watering holes when they heard human voices.

According to scientists, this debunks the idea that animals can acclimate to humans if they stop being hunted. The fear of humans as a species, rather than hunting itself, has become deeply ingrained in animals and is now pervasive.

While the fact that most animals are terrified of humans doesn’t paint a flattering picture of our species, it does offer new opportunities for conservation. It turns out that to deter animals from certain areas, all that may be needed is the sound of a human voice.

The research team plans to develop special sound systems to deliberately scare endangered species away from locations where they are at high risk of becoming victims of poachers.

Original Research: