The relationship between humans and animals goes a long way back. Animals have been helping us with a number of tasks for as long as we can remember but one thing that should be always kept in mind is that these creatures still retain much of their instincts despite how tame or domesticated they may appear. Animal attacks on humans happen quite often than you think but the reason behind most of these is the provocation by humans themselves.

There is no doubt about the fact that some people can cross levels of stupidity that most of us can’t even comprehend. Then again, perhaps this is nature’s way of separating the dumb from the rest of the herd. Unfortunately, this can also sometimes endanger the lives of people around them as well. A very sad example of this was the death of a toddler, the cause of which was negligence at the hands of her parents in looking after their Burmese python. So, to highlight some of the risks that wild animals can present and absolutely how dumb some people can be, we have put together this list of some of the craziest wild animal attacks that were a direct result of human error.

15. Whale Drowns And Kills Trainer At SeaWorld

It can be quite amazing to see dolphins and some of the other sea creatures perform tricks with their trainers if you’ve ever been to SeaWorld. One of the highlights of the show are the killer whales, also known as orcas or Shamu.

On the fateful day of February 24, 2010, a trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando was killed by a 12,300-lb whale during a live show in front of hundreds of people. The orca which was named Tilikum apparently grabbed Dawn Brancheau by her ponytail and then proceeded to drag her down into the pool, drowning her in the process. This incident clearly showed that creatures like the killer whales do not belong in captivity where they are only used for human entertainment.

14. Man Attempts To Kung Fu Fight Lions

Attempting to Kung Fu fight a lion is probably really up there on the list of the stupidest thing that you can do. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Ellie Quo, a 32-year-old Australian man decided to do once he had finished his martial arts training. His trainer had apparently informed him that he could now take on a wild animal with his bare hands.

So, Quo set out on his quest to challenge a lion by sneaking in their enclosure at the Melbourne Zoo at night. Before he could lay a single punch, however, all of the cats ganged up on him and tore his body into pieces.

13. Elephant In Kerala Goes Berzerk During Festival

The sheer size of elephants easily makes them the largest animals on land. They are often times known for their amazing intelligence which usually ends up being superior to some of the other animals in the animal kingdom. Another fact which a lot of people might not be aware of, however, is that these creatures also have an amazing memory.

This also means that if you torture one of them as a trainer, they will remember and snap at some point. That is exactly what happened in Kerala when an elephant decided to go berserk during a religious ceremony. The animal killed its trainer and then went on to severely injure more than 20 people who were present at the time of the festival. Police had to be called who ended up shooting the poor animal to prevent any further damage.

12. Man Jumps Into Panda Enclosure After A Toy

Pandas are some of the most adorable animals around. Let’s be honest here, sleeping and eating bamboo is pretty much what they all day so that don’t pose any real threats. What a lot of people end up forgetting, however, is that they are freaking bears.

In 2007, Zhang Zhio fell into the enclosure of Gu Gu the panda while trying to retrieve, wait for it, a toy for his son. Now, any reasonable person would consider buying a replacement toy instead of fighting a bear to retrieve one. Gu Gu wasn’t willing to have any of this crap and attacked Zhio, biting both of his legs in the process. The zookeepers had to pry Gu Gu’s jaws

11. Timothy Treadwell Killed By Bear In His Sleep

Timothy Treadwell was a famous American bear enthusiast. He spent most of his life making documentaries and would often spend his summers at the Katmai National Park which is in Alaska.

The area is notorious for the presence of grizzly bears and it was only a matter of time before one of them got to Treadwell. On the unfortunate morning of October 5, 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard’s mangled bodies were found near their campsite after they had failed to show up for their flight. Different body parts belonging to Treadwell were found in the area surrounding their campsite. One of the bears, which was tagged Bear 141 was found and necropsied which then confirmed that it was responsible for eating both Treadwell and Huguenard.

10. Travis The Chimp Attacks Charla Nash

If there is anything that we learned after watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes, it’s that chimpanzees are not creatures that should be kept around the house, especially as a pet. It’s a well-known fact that these animals, even though they’re smaller in size, can be twice as strong as an adult human male.

Sandra Herold was the owner of Travis the chimpanzee, famous for its numerous TV and talk show appearances. On what seemed like any regular day. Sandra decided to call her friend, Charla Nash, over to lend a helping hand with putting Travis back into its cage. This was a recipe for disaster as the chimp went berserk and attacked Nash, severely mauling her face and hands in the process. Eventually, the police had to be called who decided to shoot the animal and kill it.

9. Maddox Derkosh Falls Into African Dog Enclosure

In 2014, two-year-old Maddox Derkosh’s life came to a tragic end after he fell into the enclosure of African painted dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo. To give him a better view of the animals, Derkosh’s mother had lifted him up above the protective railings of the enclosure.

The boy lunged forward during this and fell 10 feet below into the enclosure. The dogs immediately pounced on him, fatally injuring him in the process. The zoo blamed the mother for the death since she had lifted Derkosh above the 4-foot railing meant to prevent an incident such as this. Amazingly, the parents ended up suing the zoo and eventually settled outside of court for an amount that remained confidential.

8. Bear Attacks Wes Perkins After Being Chased

If there is one thing that you should never ever do, it would be chasing down a brown bear. These animals mostly avoid human interaction but if you ever come across one, the only thing that you would want it to do is to leave you alone.

Apparently, Alaska resident Wes Perkins decided that it would be a wise thing to track down a bear on a snow mobile. Things quickly got out of hand as the bear decided to charge him and his companion. The animal almost ripped his head off but he managed to survive and the extent of his injuries was so great that it almost cost him $1 million in medical expenses. The bear was shot and killed by some of his other partners during the attack.

7. Burmese Python Strangles A Young Child

There are many people around the world who like keeping snakes as pets, however, why they end up doing this is beyond us. They can be very difficult to tame and will always resort to their natural instincts if hungry or threatened.

Negligence on the hands of Jaren Ashley Hare and Charles Jason Darnell ended in the death of their two-year-old daughter Shauinna Hare. The couple had an eight-foot long albino Burmese python that had a habit of escaping from its terrarium. On this fateful day, it escaped the enclosure and ended up attacking the child, coiling around her and crushing her to death. Authorities later discovered that the python hadn’t been fed in months and this attack was probably a result of hunger. Both the parents were sentenced to 12 years in prison.

6. Brian Jeffery Griffin Killed In Alligator Infested Water

Alligators are some of the fiercest predators in water and can easily make a meal out of a grown human. That is why it’s always recommended to avoid swimming in water where alligators are known to exist.

Young Bryan Jeffrey Griffin and his friends were perfectly aware of the presence of alligators in the Dead River of Lake County, Florida. Despite having seen a few of them swimming around as well, Bryan decided to go for a swim despite the protests of his friends. What happened next was horrible as one of the alligators grabbed him while thrashing him around violently and then pulled him under water. By the time a rescue team arrived, it was already too late.

5. Woman Gets Bitten By Tiger During Prank

Who in their right mind would ever consider putting their hand inside a tiger’s enclosure? That is an open invitation of presenting yourself as a meal to the large cat.

On Halloween night of 2015, a drunk woman decided to put her hand inside the cage of a Malayan tiger in an attempt to pet the animal. As most of you have already predicted by now, the tiger thought that the woman would make for a great snack and proceeded to bite her hand. She was immediately rushed to the hospital because of severe trauma and loss of blood but luckily ended up surviving the entire ordeal.

4. Pygmy Elephant Attacks Jenna O’Grady Donley

Startling wild animals is almost never a good idea, especially when you’re walking around in their territory. A similar mistake proved to be fatal for Jenna O’Grady Donley who was an Australian tourist during a trip through a wildlife reserve in Malaysia.

She was out trekking with a friend when they came across a pygmy elephant. While these animals are some of the smallest animals in the world, they’re still perfectly capable of trampling a human. The elephant was startled during an attempt by Donley to photograph it which resulted in it charging at her. One of the tusks ended up piercing her body which caused her immediate death.

3. Men Mauled While Honouring Tiger

Pretty much anyone with even a little bit of intelligence would know that messing around with a tiger is a bad idea, especially one that is named Shiva the destroyer. This 13-year-old tiger was minding its own business when two men, Suresh Rai and Prakesh Tiwari decided it would be a good idea to wish the creature a happy New Year.

A moat had been built as an additional measure of protection between the tiger’s enclosure and the visitors but both of these men managed to cross it. As they were preparing to present Shiva with a flower garland, the Bengal tiger attacked Rai who was severely injured and then proceeded to maul Tiwari, resulting in his death.

2. Black Bears Bite Fingers For Lunch

It seems as if there is something about getting drunk in a zoo that makes people shove their hands inside the cage of a deadly animal. Tracy Weiler decided to do exactly that after she got drunk with her boyfriend and decided to take her three-year-old to the zoo in a completely drunken state.

She jumped over various barriers on a bear enclosure and stuck her hand inside along with some snacks. The bears had other plans, however, as they ignored the food and proceeded to bite her fingers off instead. The boyfriend made attempts to rescue her but was bitten as well. The crazy part of this story is that all of this happened around 11:30 am which probably explains a lot.

1. Andrew Oberle Attacked When Entering Chimp Enclosure

The case of Charla Nash should be a warning for anyone that chimps are not animals that should be messed around with, especially those in the wild or behind safety fences. Andrew Oberle, unfortunately, learned this the hard way.

He was a student at the Goodall Institute in South Africa and was specifically doing studies on chimpanzee behavior. One day he decided to bypass the safety fences around the chimp enclosure for a closer look but this didn’t end well. The chimps ended up attacking him, severely injuring Oberle in the process after leaving him for dead. The true extent of his injuries remains unknown since his parents refused to disclose the information but that was probably for the best.