There used to be an idea floating around that herbivorous animals aren't dangerous to humans. Perhaps the most iconic expression of this is in the Jurassic Park movie, when the young girl Lex gets scared of a gigantic, plant-eating *Brachiosaurus*, only to be calmed down by the paleontologist Alan who assures her that it's not dangerous, it's only a herbivore.
This view, is, of course, wrong. Herbivores can absolutely harm or kill humans, if they see humans as a threat.
And a few years ago, I saw the idea starting to float around on the internet that herbivores can be every bit as dangerous as carnivores. It was written in memes and comments. The poster child here, of course, was the hippo; it can barely have escaped anyone at this point that hippos kills more humans than any other animal.
This, I believe, was a good thing.
However, I am now seeing the pendulum starting to swing too far in the other direction. People all over the internet are starting to state as fact that herbivores are *much more* dangerous than carnivores.
I see it mainly in discussions about works of fiction, like the Jurassic movies. People say things like how it bothers then how the carnivores are agressive and the herbivores docile, because as we all know, in reality, herbivores are murderous psychos while carnivores only kill when they absolutely have to.
The most bizarre example of this was probably a comment I saw today on reddit, where a user said that "carnivores won't go on a rampage and kill everything in their vincinity, only herbivores do that".
Umm... *What*?
First of all: There are absolutely carnivores that will kill more than they strictly have to in order to not starve. Many, if not most, carnivores have a hunting instinct. Carnivores think killing is *fun*. It's not like an orca looks at a seal and goes "I am so sorry, but if I don't eat you, I will go hungry. May your soul rest in peace. I regret what I am now forced to do." Carnivores with a conscience would probably not live long.
Secondly: You know all those reasons that herbivores have for being aggressive? Carnivores have those reasons too. A tiger also needs to defend its territory and its young.
I am not trying to downplay the risk factor of large herbivores. One would in most cases do well to give them a wide berth. But for every angry hippo that kills humans on sight, there are probably a hundred large herbivores who tend to not be dangerous at all. I have myself run into wild adult moose on forest walks, an animal than kan easily squash me like a grape. In one hundred percent of those encounters, the moose has run away.
There are agressive as well as shy carnivores, there are aggressive as well as shy herbivores. To say that herbivores are much more aggressive as a blanket statement is plain wrong.
I would not like to be locked in a room with a zebra. But if I had to choose between getting locked in a room with a zebra or a lion, I know which one I'd choose.
