Lions are the largest land predators on Earth, hunting in packs. They strike fear into the hearts of most animals, but a practical experiment revealed the sounds that most terrify animals in the jungle, including lions.
According to a report published by the Science Alert website, in more than 10,000 wildlife recordings in the African savanna , 95 percent of species showed extreme fear when they heard human voices.
"Fear of humans is deeply ingrained and widespread, " said conservation biologist Michael Clinchy of Western University in Canada, according to research published in Current Biology in 2023. "There's this idea that animals will become habituated to humans if they're not hunted, but we've shown that's not true."
In another study, Western University ecologist Liana Zanette and her colleagues played a series of sounds to animals at waterholes in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park and recorded their responses.
This protected area contains the largest remaining population of lions (Panthera leo) in the world, so other mammals are well aware of the danger these predators pose.
The researchers played audio of human conversations in local languages, including Tsonga, Northern Sotho, English, and Afrikaans, as well as human hunting sounds such as dog barking and gunfire. They also played sounds of lions communicating with each other.
"The important thing is that the recordings of the lions were of them growling and making angry sounds, as if they were in a conversation, not growling at each other," Klintchey said. "In this way, the recordings of the lions become directly comparable to humans speaking normally."
Given how ubiquitous humans are, running away from us is only a temporary situation, meaning these mammals will continue to experience fear again and again.
This would not be good for species already suffering from declining populations, including giraffes. The team's previous research suggests that persistent fear alone can reduce prey populations across generations.
“Not only are habitat loss, climate change, and species extinction extremely significant, but our mere presence in this landscape is enough of a danger signal to trigger a strong response. They are far more terrified of humans than of any other predator.”
Experiments showed that nearly 19 mammal species were twice as likely to leave water bodies when they heard human sounds compared to lion calls or even hunting sounds. These mammals included rhinos, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, hyenas, zebras, and wild boars, some of which are dangerous in their own right.
According to the research, it was specifically hearing human voices that inspired the greatest levels of fear, indicating that wild animals perceive humans as the real threat, while other disturbances, such as dog barking, are merely less serious indicators.
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