This Reuters article is just brutal:
Lions in the area [southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique] have developed a taste for human flesh because people have been sleeping outdoors to protect their crops from raiding bush pigs, which the cats follow onto croplands, a leading expert said.
"In Tanzania in the early 1990s there were about 40 recorded lion attacks a year. In the past couple of years they have risen to over 100 and about 70 percent are fatal," said Craig Packer, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota.
Even at this high level lion attacks are about on par with bear attacks in Alaska and BC (with fewer people). But there are two main differences -- lion attacks are much more likely fatal, and, well read for yourself:
People in the region and in neighboring Malawi also frequently fall victim to crocodile attacks. But Packer said while crocodiles lay in wait in rivers, the lions actively stalked people even in their homes -- a more chilling scenario.
In short, both are man-eaters but the lions are actually man-hunters.
It is always really challenging to work for conservation of any predator. But this has to be one of the hardest cases -- a real reason for fear in the countryside.
