Research overview: the landscape of fear shaping urban and exurban felids

The landscape-of-fear concept holds that perceived predation risk, including risk from humans acting as super-predators, reshapes where and how animals move, feed and rest. This overview synthesises experimental and observational research applying the framework to urban-edge felids and their prey, showing how fear of people suppresses carnivore feeding, shifts activity to night, and cascades to mesopredators and smaller animals. It examines the indirect ecological consequences, including altered kill rates and prey behaviour, and the methodological advances such as playback experiments. The synthesis frames human-induced fear as a powerful, often invisible force structuring felid behaviour and food webs near cities.