Most victims of animal attacks around the world are not tourists but the people who live amid potentially dangerous animals all the time. Here are some incidents from the last seven days.
India
A tiger killed two farmers in separate incidents about five kilometers apart within 24 hours in the eastern corner of India’s Maharashtra state.
Sixty-year-old farmer Nana Kambadi was killed by a tiger while working in his field on Saturday evening. The following evening, Premila Mahadole, 40, was attacked while harvesting rice. Her body was later found in the field. Officials suspect it was the same tiger, but this has not been confirmed.
The back-to-back killings have thrown residents across the district into a panic, according to the Times of India. At this time of year, many are out in their fields harvesting rice at the edges of forests.
The death toll from human-animal conflicts in just this part of Maharashtra state has now risen to 35 in 2026, according to officials.
A family herd of wild Indian elephants. Photo: Shutterstock
An elephant killed a man who was trying to drive a herd of 23 elephants away from his village in Jharkhand state in eastern India.
According to forest officials, the elephant seized Nicholas Topno, 40, with its trunk, dragged him nearly 500m, and trampled him.
The herd, which included five calves, had been damaging crops in the area. Officials had been monitoring the movements for several days and warned residents not to approach. Our team has been monitoring its movement round the clock for the last five days, but some villagers still ventured close to the elephants,” forest officer Shekhar Singh told the Times of India.
Bear warning sign in rural Japan. Photo: Shutterstock
Japan
A 93-year-old woman was attacked by a bear in her yard one evening this week in Yamanashi Prefecture west of Tokyo.
She suffered facial injuries and a broken right leg but remained conscious and was able to speak when taken to hospital. She survived.
Because bear attacks continue to be a problem in many parts of Japan, officials have warned residents to avoid unnecessary outings. Members of a hunting association patrol the area, and students are either bused to school or driven by their parents.
Africa
A shark fatally attacked a 65-year-old woman who was swimming off Eastern Cape in South Africa.
Fellow swimmer Mike Loewe told state broadcaster SABC that members of the open-water swimming group she belonged to brought the gravely injured woman ashore. A medic in the group tried to help, but she died at the scene. Officials have closed the beach.
Great white shark, South Africa. Photo: Shutterstock
South Africa is known for its great white sharks, but attacks are rare. The Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File recorded 29 unprovoked bites in South Africa between 2012 and 2021. Six were fatal.
Elephant in African village. Photo: Shutterstock
Two men died in separate elephant attacks in Kenya. In the first incident, a herder named Abubakar Aden Dube Bute was grazing his calves when he happened upon a herd of elephants. He tried to flee but failed and sustained multiple serious injuries to his head, ribs, and legs.
Later, 72-year-old Abdikher Sheikh Ibrahim, originally from Somalia, died on his way home from fetching water. Another man with him escaped unharmed.
A Cape buffalo in Uganda. Photo: Shutterstock
In Uganda, a group of six Cape buffaloes that had strayed from a nearby national park gored to death Richard Olwoch, 36. Local officials said approximately six people had been killed by wandering wildlife in the district over the past year. Prolonged drought has prompted wildlife to leave protected areas in search of water and grazing.
The animals reportedly remain in nearby villages, creating an ongoing danger.
A black bear in Washington State. Photo: Shutterstock
United States
A Washington state woman who was walking her dog in her backyard was knocked down from behind by a black bear.
“The bear continued to pursue the woman, biting and clawing at her while she was on the ground,” the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said. “She was able to make it into her residence and call authorities.”
Wildlife officials told ABC that the woman hadn’t done anything wrong. They are searching the area for the bear, which is possibly a mother with a cub.
