Now we know that almost every attack on a human is an accident: The shark mistakes the human for its normal prey.

This behavior is often reported when normal urban prey, such as brown rats, black rats and rabbits, has become scarce.

The shadows of the ridges and the inlets on the coast sang with life, with normal prey.

In this degraded environment, the great white somehow failed to capture the fish that abounded, its normal prey.

Unable to find their normal prey, he said, they ended up searching for food in the backyard of a police station.

But it was hot, and humans were not his normal prey.

Its normal prey probably never realized that.

If injured, old or weak, or their normal prey is becoming scarce, they may even attack humans and become man-eaters.

And humans, with none of the natural cunning of a wolf's normal prey, were an easy target.

Much like some big cats, old or crippled wolves unable to tackle their normal prey have also been recorded to attack humans.