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While there's ongoing debate over whether animals truly experience complex emotions like holding grudges, most scientists agree that animals exhibit traits resembling human personalities. As a result, it's plausible that they can, indeed, harbor grudges. Of course, pinpointing exactly which species are capable of such emotions could spark a whole new line of inquiry.
Lions have been seen seemingly holding grudges against fellow lions, and cows have displayed similar behavior toward other cows. Elephants, too, have shown signs of seeking revenge against humans. Here are ten occasions where animals appeared to hold grudges and retaliated accordingly.
10. A Tiger Pursued And Killed The Poacher Who Shot It
The Siberian tiger, also known as the Amur tiger, is widely regarded as the largest subspecies of tiger. They can easily weigh more than 225 kilograms (500 lb) and stretch over 3 meters (10 ft) in length from nose to tail. Known for their impressive jumping abilities, they can clear heights of up to 7.6 meters (25 ft) with ease. Irritating such a powerful predator is an incredibly bad idea and could lead to dire consequences.
Russian poacher Vladimir Markov learned a harsh lesson after attacking a tiger in the Russian Far East in 1997. Markov shot and injured the tiger during a hunt, and to make matters worse, he took part of its kill. The tiger did not forget this act, and within 12 to 48 hours, it tracked Markov to the cabin where he was staying.
However, Markov wasn't home at the time, so the tiger wreaked havoc on anything in the cabin that carried his scent, waiting patiently for him to return. When Markov finally came back, the tiger killed and ate him. To this day, this incident stands as the only known case of a tiger specifically tracking down a human, waiting for them, and then killing and consuming them.
9. A Group of Dogs Vandalized a Car After the Owner Attacked One of Their Own
In 2015, a man in Chongqing, China, arrived home one evening to find a stray dog lying in his parking spot. Rather than moving the dog, he chose to kick it aside before parking his car and heading inside.
The dog didn’t take the kicking incident quietly. It left but returned with a group of other dogs, and together they vandalized the man's car. They used their teeth to create dents in the vehicle and chewed on the windshield wipers. The man was shocked to discover the damage the next morning, only realizing what had happened after a neighbor, who witnessed the dogs attacking the car, informed him.
8. Truman The Octopus Fired Water Streams At A Woman He Disliked
Octopuses are known for their intelligence, sharp vision, and memory. They are also capable of holding grudges and getting revenge when given the chance. One example is Truman, an octopus that once resided at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts.
Truman developed a particular aversion to a woman volunteering at the aquarium, and he would shoot streams of water at her whenever he could. The woman eventually left for college, but returned a few months later. Truman, who had not shot water at anyone during her absence, immediately fired a stream at her as soon as he saw her.
7. A Leopard Viciously Attacked A Park Ranger For Prodding Her With A Stick
In Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, a female leopard became a problem for nearby communities after she started preying on their livestock. Fearing that she might eventually target humans, the locals called in park rangers to capture and relocate the animal. The leopard was captured and placed in a cage, but refused to leave when transported in the back of a pickup truck. That’s when things took a dangerous turn.
One of the rangers, Alexander Rono, attempted to prod the leopard with a long stick from the truck cabin, hoping to coax her out of the cage. The leopard was not pleased and roared loudly in response to the poking. At one point, she even bit the stick but still refused to exit the cage. When she finally did, she didn’t run away immediately.
Instead, she lunged toward the front of the vehicle and tried to jump into the truck’s cabin, though she initially failed. Alexander tried to roll up the windows, but she was too fast. On her second attempt, the leopard got halfway inside the cabin. She engaged Alexander in a violent struggle, slashing at his face with her 8-centimeter (3 in) claws while trying to land a fatal bite to his neck.
At one point, Alexander’s hand was in her mouth. The attack persisted, with the leopard nearly fully inside the truck, until Alexander managed to kick her out the window with his feet. She ran into the forest, and Alexander was left with severe injuries, including potential blindness. He needed 21 stitches to close his wounds. Alexander later remarked that he had “learned a very painful lesson he will never forget.” He certainly did!
6. Crows Identified And Attacked Researchers Who Had Captured Them
Crows are excellent at remembering people who cause them trouble, and they often engage in behaviors like taunting and dive-bombing those individuals whenever they are nearby. A group of researchers—who had been capturing crows and placing identification bands on them—noticed that the birds would make noise and attack them whenever they entered the crows' territory.
To validate their hypothesis, the researchers began wearing masks while capturing and tagging the crows. Over time, they observed that the crows would make noise whenever they saw the masked individuals. Even after a year without encountering the masked people, the crows still recognized the faces and reacted.
Even more fascinating, the crows taught their young which faces to recognize as enemies. As a result, the baby crows would scold and dive-bomb at these perceived foes, even if they had never witnessed the individuals capturing a crow before.
5. An Enraged Camel Bit Its Owner's Head Off
If there's one animal that holds onto grudges and never forgets, it's the camel. Known for their sharp memories, camels are capable of holding deep resentments against people who wrong them. Hurting a camel is likely to provoke a deadly revenge attack.
One man in India discovered this the hard way in 2016 when he was killed by his own camel. The man, Urjaram, had been so focused on entertaining guests at his home in Mangta village, Rajasthan, that he forgot about the camel he had left tied out in the scorching heat all day.
When Urjaram attempted to untie the camel at night, the already furious animal seized him by the neck, lifted him, and threw him to the ground. It then chewed on his neck until the head was completely separated from the body. It took 25 villagers approximately six hours to calm the enraged camel down.
4. A Tigress Attacked Three Men After They Taunted Her
On December 25, 2007, a tigress named Tatiana broke free from her enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo and attacked three men. Two of the men, Paul and Kulbir Dhailwal, were brothers, and the third, Carlos Sousa, was their friend. Tatiana initially attacked Kulbir, and when Sousa attempted to distract her, he inadvertently became her next target as she left Kulbir and fatally attacked him.
Tatiana's fury was far from over. She tracked Kulbir’s blood trail for over 274 meters (900 ft) before she caught up with Paul, who had fled alongside Kulbir. The tigress attacked Paul, though she didn’t kill him before she was shot by the police. The two surviving men initially denied taunting Tatiana, but Paul later admitted that they had, indeed, provoked her. He confessed that the trio had yelled and waved at her, though he denied throwing anything into her enclosure.
3. A Tiger Killed A Poacher For Killing Its Mate And Cub
In Seethathodu, Kerala, India, a male tiger went on a destructive rampage in 2016 after a poacher named Baby killed his tigress and cub. Baby was part of a group of illegal brewers making alcohol in the forest when they encountered the tigress and her cub. After shooting and killing both, Baby and his group skinned the tigress and shared her meat.
Three days later, the brewers returned, only to face the fury of the tigress's partner. The tiger attacked Baby, mauling him severely before dragging him into the forest. While Baby survived the initial attack, his injuries proved fatal. The tiger did not stop there; it continued its rampage for over two months, attacking anyone unfortunate enough to cross its path.
2. Skuas Attacked Researchers Who Disturbed Their Nests
Skuas are one of the many bird species found in Antarctica. While they evolved in isolation from humans, it's now clear that they can remember faces and will actively attack people they perceive as threats.
Between 2014 and 2015, a group of Korean researchers on King George Island began studying the nests, eggs, and chicks of skuas. The birds, feeling threatened, became increasingly aggressive and began attacking the scientists whenever they came near their nests.
To test whether the birds were reacting to specific individuals, two researchers visited the nests together—one had previously interacted with the birds, while the other hadn’t. They split up and approached the nests from different directions to see how the birds would respond to their presence.
The researchers found that the birds specifically attacked the scientist who had previously interacted with their nests, while the other researcher, who had never approached their nests before, was ignored. Over time, the birds even began to attack before the scientists came anywhere near their nests, showing no hesitation in launching their defense.
1. Two Herds Of Elephants Attacked A Village Over The Death Of Another Elephant
In July 2016, residents of multiple villages near the Champua forest range in Keonjhar, India, experienced a series of elephant invasions that spanned two weeks. Over 15 days, 16 elephants from two separate herds launched a series of nighttime raids, destroying 54 homes in the process.
Investigations revealed that the motive for the attacks was the killing of a male elephant on the night of July 11. A group of poachers from a neighboring state poisoned and killed the elephant, stealing its tusks. In retaliation, the rest of the herd directed their fury at the villages, leading to simultaneous assaults that forced villagers to take refuge under trees or in makeshift shelters.
