It is widely accepted that populations of terrestrial predators sometimes contain “problem individuals” that repeatedly attack humans, yet this phenomenon has never been demonstrated in sharks. Here, we present photographic and genetic evidence of individuals in populations of tiger Galeocerdo cuvier and oceanic whitetip Carcharhinus longimanus sharks that (1) demonstrated atypical behavior compared to the rest of the population, (2) engaged in repeated agonistic behavior directed toward humans, and (3) bit, or attempted to bite humans in probable foraging attempts. These case studies provide some of the first evidence for the existence of “problem individuals” among sharks. The percentage of fatalities due to the same shark individual are not known, so we recommend systematic swabbing of shark bite victims wounds to better understand the importance of this phenomenon and the possibility of identifying these animals. Environmentally conscientious management options for problem individuals range from prohibiting ocean activities (e.g., swimming and surfing) in their habitats to selectively removing the individual, although the latter would be challenging in the marine environment.

中文翻译：

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个体鲨鱼参与多次掠食性咬伤人类的第一个证据


人们普遍认为，陆生捕食者种群有时包含反复攻击人类的“问题个体”，但这种现象从未在鲨鱼身上得到证明。在这里，我们展示了虎 Galeocerdo cuvier 和远洋白鳍 Carcharhinus longimanus 鲨鱼种群中个体的照片和遗传证据，这些鲨鱼 （1） 与其他种群相比表现出非典型行为，（2） 从事针对人类的反复激动行为，以及 （3） 咬人或试图在可能的觅食尝试中咬人。这些案例研究为鲨鱼中存在“问题个体”提供了一些初步证据。由于同一条鲨鱼个体造成的死亡百分比尚不清楚，因此我们建议系统地擦拭鲨鱼咬伤受害者的伤口，以更好地了解这种现象的重要性以及识别这些动物的可能性。针对问题个体的环保管理方案包括禁止在其栖息地进行海洋活动（例如游泳和冲浪）到选择性地移除个体，尽管后者在海洋环境中具有挑战性。