Animals run faster from human voices than they do from lion roars, study finds

Which animal is the scariest? According to a recent study, humans have ousted lions at the top of the predator pecking order.

The experiment on a group of wild animals showed that they were twice as likely to run away when they heard a human voice compared with the sound of a lion snarling or roaring, with 95% of species in the study fleeing upon hearing the sound of a human voice.

Prof Liana Zanette, Lead researcher from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, said she was surprised by the response from wildlife, as well as the number of species who reacted with terror and fled after hearing human sounds. 'Lions should be the scariest thing out there – but humans were much scarier … It shows we really are terrifying to animals,' Zanette said.

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[coppercommander]

Its crazy to think they hear a lion and they're like ehh but hear us and they're straight up panicking

[iamjimb]

0:19 "oh no he's gonna tell me his life story, run!"

[Orion]

I have the same reaction when my boss calls me into his office.

[bloodycomedy]

1:07 this deer is the only one who didnt run, and its dead...., even when dead he still trying to move his leg...., how scary human is

[leftygaming]

Now I wanna see a study done in the jungles of Bangladesh where tigers roam and see how animals react to humans vs tigers. I imagine it’s the same, but tigers hunt humans in those areas, and other animals have definitely heard the humans screams as they get mauled, so I’m curious to see if it’s any different or if it’s the same

[austinpigg]

0:17 Notice how the giraffe trembles before running shows just how horrifying we are !!!

[benjaminmorris]

Giraffes running is so trippy. Like slow motion irl

[herchahein]

I would also be scared if I heard conversations out of nowhere in the jungle

[dimitristsekeris]

Reaction to lions: "They have invaded our territory"
Reaction to humans: "This is no longer our territory"

[marianogarcia]

Lion- Calm
Leopard- Calm
Human- Panik

[EDL_]

To be fair what if they just run when they hear a completely new sound. There’s no control to see what they do if they hear a completely strange noise like music or car honking etc

[jamesspencer]

I think they are just startled by any sudden noise. I bet one of those hippo motor boat farts would have the same response

[susanb]

Lions do not roar before attacking: humans do talk
This is highly flawed experiment

[miamitten]

They made the leopard 🐆 lose its hard work dinner….or maybe they save the antelope as I saw it move.

[Sapanoid]

Don't worry animals, When humans try to talk to me I also run away

[BuddaBakes]

Was the recorded voice Madison from SiriusXM? That would make any living creature run.

[Shinyboy]

I’m more interested to know what other South African languages they used to scare these animals away, besides English and Afrikaans

[EDL_]

I’d be scared if I heard that too it sounds like siren head is nearby😂

[SweetOne]

Probably because we sound so different from other animals and also because they’re not used to hearing human speech also

[alexoniscenko]

it's because it is not the normal sounds that they would usually hear or deal with... it's the same reason why people get scared by big grey headed things like an alien.