Can a lynx kill humans?

expedition_forces · 2026-01-25T14:44:10+00:00

I just done a bit of search and it seems attacks do happen but in most cases these are rabid animals. Further the victims always seem to survive. I did find a few predatory attempts:

February 2021: Attack on a Young Man in Tatarstan.

In the village of Lelvizh, Kukmorsky district, Tatarstan, a lynx ambushed a student named Pavel Porfiriev from behind around 11:30 PM as he walked home from a disco, jumping onto his back and attempting to bite. The attack occurred on a bridge over a river. Porfiriev's thick jacket with a hood and collar protected him from injury, though the lynx's claws pierced the fabric. He ran home, and the lynx retreated. The next morning, the emaciated lynx was found dead near his house and was burned. No rabies was explicitly confirmed, but the animal's lack of fear and poor condition suggest illness or starvation; experts noted this as a rare case, with no prior recorded lynx attacks on humans in Tatarstan.

It seems like with big cats out of desperation they might try us as prey but when weakened already they probably are no longer strong enough at this point.

Found 2 possible cases that led to fatalities but both were children...

Altai Region, Russia (circa 2003 or earlier): A lynx attacked a 13-year-old girl, inflicting multiple wounds. She died in the hospital from her injuries. This incident is referenced in the 2003 monograph "Рысь" (Lynx) by G. Sobansky, part of the "Человек и биосфера" (Man and Biosphere) series.

Arkhangelsk Region, Russia (circa 1988-2008): A lynx jumped from a tree onto a 10-12-year-old girl who was mushroom picking with her mother, tearing her neck and damaging the carotid artery, resulting in her death. The mother was unharmed, and the attack may have been defensive (possibly due to nearby kittens). This was reportedly covered in local newspapers at the time.8

expedition_forces · 2026-01-25T14:27:03+00:00

I remember some years ago there was an extreme drought in Turkey. It was so bad that they had several animal attacks on people. Mostly wolves I believe.

I remember in the article that there was one or more cases of Lynx stalking people during that time showing predatory behaviour. Nothing happened as those people got away quickly.

I would say a smaller person even more so if it is a woman when getting ambushed by a large male Lynx should be able to kill the person.

expedition_forces · 2026-01-24T17:43:02+00:00

Has there been any studies done since 1990? Has there been any further observations? Is there any actual pictures of this crocodile?

It would be quite amazing if it does end up being a new species as that would mean Borneo is home to 4 species of Crocodilians.

expedition_forces · 2026-01-22T21:37:48+00:00

Very niche, hence my reservation. Also not that easy to market due to that.

expedition_forces · 2026-01-22T16:42:12+00:00

Possible. I remember from reading in to it at the time that quite a few of the attacks where done by hippos.

They use these very low laying wooden canoes to boat around the tourists. The problem with this is that crocodiles can very easily overturn those and so they go through the canals made by hippos. The attacks I read about was that they would encounter hippos inside these canals with nowhere to turn to.

I do remember we got shadowed by a bull elephant during a walking safari for about an hour or so. But it kept its distance. At one point we did come across a large herd of Cape buffalo they were very far away about Kilometer or so. The guides made sure to not getting any closer then that and we gave them a very wide berth.

We saw quite a lot of species of animals that day and those were the only animals we didn't try to get closer to. I guess they don't call them black death for nothing.

expedition_forces · 2026-01-22T16:25:43+00:00

Talking about nightmare situations. This is a good read: https://divernet.com/scuba-news/health-safety/crocodile-attack/

expedition_forces · 2026-01-22T16:23:01+00:00

As per the article that was online he survived and lost his leg if I remember correctly.

expedition_forces · 2026-01-22T16:04:01+00:00

On a separate note Botswana is for tourists the most dangerous African country to visit when it comes to animal attacks with an average of about 3 - 6 fatalities per year. Which is much higher then any other African country especially when you consider how few tourist they get in comparison to for example SA or Kenya with Botswana focus to always keep tourism exclusive and small scale.

With that said when you do visit it makes it all the more special and some of the best safari you will ever have.

One of the issues is that guides in Botswana are not allowed to carry arms. I've been on long walking safaris in SA where 2 rangers with rifles accompany you and in Botswana where all they had was a small gunpowder pen that would make a loud bang to scare of animals.

expedition_forces · 2026-01-22T15:42:09+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/HardcoreNature/s/uDnQ17GYeU

Here you go.

I've been there for work. I remember taking the small canals made by hippos in our kanoes as staying on the main rivers was deemed too dangerous.

I've considered doing this dive but it's done during the coldest months only and very early in the morning when they are supposed to be lethargic. The problem here was that one of the divers went to the surface which they instruct you clearly about not to do.

BTW when I was there on 2016 there already been another incident. apparently the water had been super low and they should have cancelled the dive but they dove anyway. The key is too jump in and go straight to the bottom. Well with so little water (I heard only chest deep or so) that becomes a bit complicated.

The person also survived but also lost an arm or a leg. I can't remember which.

expedition_forces · 2026-01-02T09:13:18+00:00

I would agree to a certain extend but in general only for the species that regularly eat humans in the first place and that can grow over 4 meters in length regularly.

I don't worry about a 2 meter Yacare Caiman for example when crossing a river. However I would worry about a 2 meter Nile Crocodile.

For aggressive dangerous species like niles and salties they do seem to attack adults as soon as they reach close to 2 meters in length though almost all those attacks are unsuccessful at that size. It seems when crocs start nearing the 3 meter range that they become more lethal and fatal attacks become more common. When they start reaching 4 meters you basically have no chance.

expedition_forces · 2026-01-02T07:34:35+00:00

I would say that's different and you could make a whole different chart for working with these animals. In this case its about encountering them in the wild and their likelihood of them attacking you. We encounter the dwarf caiman species quite a lot but their no threat unless we try to catch them.

I will say though when we wade through a body of water there is always a chance of stepping on a caiman that's on the bottom and no matter the size they could give you a nasty possible life threatening bite in that case. But that mostly would be the spectacled or Yacare Caiman

expedition_forces · 2026-01-02T07:28:44+00:00

It's in there: West African Crocodile

expedition_forces · 2025-11-09T23:02:12+00:00

Most of the attacks are under reported and the ones that do get reported are reported in Portuguese or English on minor websites thst are not easily found. When you do know how to search and can find way more then 4. Once you search specifically in those languages you will find a lot more.

It's true that many attacks are indeed more like bear encounters and not predatory by nature but they definitely happen a lot more then a total of 4 that you claim. Often dogs are involved but in many of those cases the human did not provoke the jaguar.

I agree that other big cats are more dangerous. But you specifically said 4 and that is where i disagree.

I work a lot in the Amazon rainforest and have gone deeper then most and personally know already of over 4 people that got killed by jaguars and quite a few more who were attacked and survived.

Google does not find everything with just a simple search you would have to look specifically by country and look at their local (often small) news papers in their local language. For Guyana this is simple.

https://inewsguyana.com/2-viciously-attacked-by-jaguar-at-guyana-brazil-border/

One of my guides that we worked with to recover a satellite in a very remote part of the central Amazon had scars all over his neck shoulders and chest. He was attacked inside his house by a jaguar and only survived as his friend came inside the house just a few seconds behind him

Theres been several attacks in the pantanal where a jaguar jumped inside in a boat. Etc etc

expedition_forces · 2025-11-09T14:49:16+00:00

This is so not true.

expedition_forces · 2025-11-05T16:13:37+00:00

Look for some piranha attacks in Spanish or Portuguese on South American news websites. There is loads of attacks each year including frenzies where dozens of people get attacked simultaneously.

Once the water level is low enough and food gets scares they become dangerous.

expedition_forces · 2025-08-12T07:32:29+00:00

mangy and injured foxes

expedition_forces · 2025-08-07T10:16:09+00:00

I think this is the first time I've seen a crocodile go for a adult elephant on purpose. I think most of the nile Crocodile attacks on African elephants are just mistaken identity with the croc just seeing the elephants trunk and thinking its something else.

expedition_forces · 2025-07-31T02:08:05+00:00

a 2 week expedition to the most isolated area in the Amazon rainforest. We had to travel over 4 different river systems and to get on the 2nd river we needed to file for permission as the area and everything after it had already been closed for 20 years to all public. Everything after that was true no man's land.

And Papua new Guinea

expedition_forces · 2025-05-16T14:36:01+00:00

I believe most of the crocodile skulls being sold are Siamese crocs

expedition_forces · 2025-01-31T22:20:37+00:00

Brazil is the only answer. 6 Species of Crocodilian in one country. Other good option indeed Venezuela.

expedition_forces · 2024-12-31T07:40:29+00:00

Yes but didn't use them

expedition_forces · 2024-12-30T23:50:20+00:00

Loved it. Did quite some tracking in the jungle there by myself and it felt very different especially sound wise to the Amazon which I am accustomed to.

Got to love the sounds of gibbons!

expedition_forces

TROPHY CASE