Shout at an elephant, stare out a lion but NEVER make eye contact with a leopard: How to survive attacks from the world's most dangerous animals.
Face/eye recognition is built into the makeup of all vertebrate social species. Such ability and its resultant behavior is found in many fish, a number of reptiles (especially lizards), most birds and most mammals.
I can think of three: grizzly bears, polar bears, and black bears. If you hold eye contact with them the bear is likely to think that you are challenging it , and you don't want to do that. You definitely will not win, and may not even survive.
It's a matter of instinct with animals. If you make eye contact with a wild animal, it will train on you without warning, and you could die from the mauling. And if you suddenly turn around to run away, you'll be met with deadly force by the animal.
The leopard relies so heavily on its camouflage, it will lie dead still until the absolute last second, hoping you will not see it and simply pass it by. Believe me, this happens. If you do see it and look it in the eye, it knows it's cover has been blown and has to react. The so-called “Flight or Fight” response.
If you ever encounter a tiger in the wild (or if you do one in your dreams :-)), look in the eyes and slowly back far, far away while keeping eye contact with him and he is less likely to kill you. Chances are you're in his territory and he wants you to leave more than he wants to eat you.
Tigers are less likely to kill you if you look them in the eye. Tigers like to hunt by ambush. By looking a tiger in the eye, you're showing it that you know it's there. This, “they say”, makes it less likely that a tiger will attack you.
Staring Can Make a Dog Feel Challenged
For a dog, a stranger staring at them might be seen as a challenge, threat, or something to make them uneasy. They may even fear you could be trying to take a resource, such as a toy or chew, away from them. That's why it's best to act calm around new dogs.
If you encounter a wolf or pack of wolves at close range do not run or turn away. If you are approached, act aggressively and maintain eye contact if the wolf is looking at you. Aggressively use poles, pepper spray, rocks, limbs, noisemakers or other handy items to discourage wolves.
If you encounter a black bear, do not make eye contact. If you make eye contact, black bears will take this as an act of aggression.
Just as humans stare into the eyes of someone they adore, dogs will stare at their owners to express affection. In fact, mutual staring between humans and dogs releases oxytocin, known as the love hormone. This chemical plays an important role in bonding and boosts feelings of love and trust.
Running may stimulate a mountain lion's instinct to chase. Instead, stand and face the animal. Make eye contact. If you have small children with you, pick them up, if possible, so they don't panic and run.
Direct eye contact
Cats can find direct eye contact quite threatening. They wouldn't look another cat straight in the face unless they were fixing for a fight. When your cat's relaxed, they might look at you with a peaceful gaze or half closed eyes.
But studies have shown that direct eye contact with macaques can be taken as a sign of aggression or threatening behavior.
Eagles – Best Eyes in the Animal Kingdom
To put that into perspective, an eagle has the visual acuity of 20/5 – meaning that it can see at 20 feet what a human with 20/20 vision would need to be 5 feet away from to see. By this standard, an eagle's visual acuity is 4 times stronger than ours.
Geckos (Gekkota)
Nocturnal geckos have superb vision in dim light - their eyes are 350 times more sensitive to colour at night than a human's (see for yourself with our animal vision interactive).
Stand tall and make themselves look larger. Calmly but slowly back away and maintain eye contact. If the wolf does not run away immediately, continue making yourself large, keeping eye contact, and backing away. Do not turn your back on the wolf or run away.
They do not make good guard dogs! They are naturally cautious, wary and often fearful animals. They are not aggressive animals and would prefer to retreat, but if cornered or mistreated, they will defend themselves. They are not easily trainable.
Like many large carnivores, wolves are generally afraid of humans and will avoid people, buildings, and roads if possible. The risk of wolves attacking or killing people is low. As with other wildlife, it is best not to feed wolves and to keep them at a respectful distance.
Experts in dog behavior believe that, in general, dogs do not like being embraced. However, every dog has a unique personality. Some may dislike hugs more strongly than others, and some may actually adore them. The closest thing our furry family members do to a hug is something referred to as 'standing over'.
Humans and dogs smell different, look different, and behave differently—so when your dog is interacting with you, he's clearly getting the signal that you're a human, not a canine. But again, just because your dog recognizes that you're not a dog doesn't mean he doesn't identify with you or have a strong bond.
Licking is a natural and instinctive behaviour to dogs. For them it's a way of grooming, bonding, and expressing themselves. Your dog may lick you to say they love you, to get your attention, to help soothe themselves if they're stressed, to show empathy or because you taste good to them!
Tigers cannot stand the smell of alcohol and are more likely to attack you if they can smell it on your breath.
Tigers are naturally, instinctively, terrified of fire and resist jumping through flaming rings. In order for a trainer to get a tiger through a flaming hoop, that animal must be more afraid of physical punishment by the trainer than the fire itself.