Human voices are scarier than a lion's growl for savannah animals

Animals at a watering hole in South Africa were twice as likely to flee in response to recordings of humans talking compared to sounds of lions.

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Animals living in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park, home to one of the world's largest remaining lion populations, are far more afraid of hearing human voices than lion vocalisations or hunting sounds, like gunshots.

The recorded human voices were at a conversational volume, and the lion vocalisations included 'conversational' snarling and growling as opposed to roaring so that they were able to be compared.

The researchers found that animals were twice as likely to run and abandon waterholes in response to hearing humans and 95% of species ran more often and faster in response to humans than in response to lions.

These recorded human voices could help purposefully steer endangered species away from poaching areas.


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