Lions most likely to eat humans after a full moon
Believe it or not, humans are most at risk of being eaten by lions just after a full moon, according to a new study of lion attacks in Africa.
Other predators, such as wolves, may also be at their most dangerous when the moon starts to wane, said the study.
The findings could explain the full moon's place in folklore as a harbinger of evil and its association with werewolves and vampires, the Daily Mail reported.
The scientists, who studied records of nearly 500 lion attacks on Tanzanian villagers between 1988 and 2009, found that victims were eaten in over two thirds of cases.
And most of the attacks occurred between dusk and 10pm on nights when the moon was waning and providing relatively little light, the researchers said.
Lions hunt most successfully when darkness allows them to surprise their prey, but on bright moonlit nights they might have to go hungry. The period immediately following a full moon provides a lion with a welcome opportunity to catch up on missed meals, they said.
Chief investigator Dr Craig Packer, of the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences in the US, said: "People start out at moderate danger during days 0-4, when the moon is only a sliver and sets shortly after sunset.
"Danger then declines as the moon gets brighter each evening, with very few attacks in the nights just before the full moon. Then, wham, danger spikes as those hungry lions can now operate in darkness for the rest of the lunar cycle.
"The post-full-moon spike is restricted to relatively few hours of full darkness before the largish moon rises later in the evening."
The study, published in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, involved checking measurements of lion belly size logged regularly since 1978, and records of lion attacks kept by Tanzanian government authorities.
According to the researchers, as the moon wanes, it does not appear until well after dusk and peak danger times for humans are therefore the active hours after sunset, especially the day after a full moon.
The pattern emerged clearly when the researchers compared attack rates with moon phases. Attacks were a third more frequent during the second half of the cycle, when there was little or no moonlight, the researchers found.
They pointed out that humans have lived close to large nocturnal carnivores for thousands of years. "Thus we have always been exposed to risks of predation that cycled with the waxing and waning of the moon," said the scientists.
"The darkest hours in the early evening are restricted to the weeks following the full moon, and lions are hungriest immediately after the bright evenings of the second quarter," the researchers wrote.
"Although we are safest from lion attacks during well-lit nights, the full moon accurately indicates that the risks of lion predation will increase dramatically in the coming days. Thus the full moon is not dangerous in itself but is instead a portent of the darkness to come."
