Fear of the human “super predator” far exceeds the fear of large carnivores in a model mesocarnivore

The fear (perceived predation risk) large carnivores inspire in mesocarnivores can affect ecosystem structure and function, and loss of the “landscape of fear” large carnivores create adds to concerns regarding the worldwide loss of large carnivores. Fear of humans has been proposed to act as a substitute, but new research identifies humans as a “super predator” globally far more lethal to mesocarnivores, and thus presumably far more frightening. Although much of the world now consists of human-dominated landscapes, there remains relatively little research regarding how behavioral responses to humans affect trophic networks, to the extent that no study has yet experimentally tested the relative fearfulness mesocarnivores demonstrate in reaction to humans versus nonhuman predators. Badgers (Meles meles) in Britain are a model mesocarnivore insofar as they no longer need fear native large carnivores (bears, Ursus arctos; wolves, Canis lupus) and now perhaps fear humans more. We tested the...