Humans are practically

defenseless. Why don't

wild animals attack us
more?
By Patrick Pester - Staff Writer 4 days ago

Without tools, we're practically

defenseless.
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A photographer takes a selfie as a brown bear walks past in
Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. (Image credit: Paul
Souders via Getty Images)

"They are more afraid of you than you are of

them" is a saying that is often used to reassure
hikers that even large predators, such
as bears and pumas, pose little threat to us. But
humans are slower and weaker than these
animals, so what stops these beasts from
snacking on every clothed ape they come
across? 
There are a few likely reasons why they don't
attack more often. Looking at our physiology,
humans evolved to be bipedal — going from
moving with all four limbs to walking upright
on longer legs, according to John Hawks, a
paleoanthropologist at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
"There is a threat level that comes from being
bipedal," Hawks told Live Science. "And when
we look at other primates
— chimpanzees, gorillas, for instance — they
stand to express threats. Becoming larger in
appearance is threatening, and that is a really
easy way of communicating to predators that
you are trouble."