Research overview: risk perception versus actual risk in big-cat conflict

This overview examines the persistent gap between perceived and actual risk in human-big cat conflict, a theme cutting across lion, tiger, leopard, puma, and jaguar systems. It synthesises research showing that fear and hostility often far exceed measurable danger or economic loss, driven by dread of predation, vivid rare events, media amplification, and psychological biases. The literature explores how misperception fuels retaliatory killing and opposition to conservation, and how transparent loss verification, accurate communication, and direct experience can recalibrate perception. The survey argues that managing risk perception is a distinct and tractable objective, sometimes more impactful for coexistence than reducing the underlying physical risk itself.