Animal Attacks and Injuries: Fatal

Injuries sustained following human interaction with animals may be fatal or nonfatal. It is not unusual for medicolegal experts to come across cases of fatal animal attacks, hence the need for up-to-date knowledge on the subject. Human-animal conflict arising due to encroachment into wildlife habitats is one of the main reasons for animal attacks on human beings. Injuries sustained in fatal animal attacks may be either virtually pathognomonic of that animal or nonspecific. This chapter deals with fatal animal attacks on humans and their causation, circumstances surrounding them, injuries sustained, and associated medicolegal aspects.