Fear of the human "super predator" pervades the South African savanna.

Lions have long been perceived as Africa's, if not the world's, most fearsome terrestrial predator, the "king of beasts". Wildlife's fear of humans may, however, be far more powerful and all-prevailing as recent global surveys show that humans kill prey at much higher rates than other predators, due partly to technologies such as hunting with dogs or guns. We comprehensively experimentally tested whether wildlife's fear of humans exceeds even that of lions, by quantifying fear responses in the majority of carnivore and ungulate species (n = 19) inhabiting South Africa`s Greater Kruger National Park (GKNP), using automated camera-speaker systems at waterholes during the dry season that broadcast playbacks of humans, lions, hunting sounds (dogs, gunshots) or non-predator controls (birds).