Combat is a bear

[Seems]

I love the overall feel for the game, but the combat is just a pain in the tuckus. I just explored the meteorite in the jungle and found myself surrounded by pythons, alligators, warthogs, etc. with no idea where to go. After braving a river to get some much needed water, I headed in what I hoped was the direction back to my settlement and promptly got ambushed by some type of tiger. 3 seconds later I was dead. Any suggestions how to get better at combat?

[Bubba Fett]

In the early game your best strategy is to dodge attacks. Hold down the sprint/Jump button. (A on controller, space on KB) hold the direction key that you want to dodge in, and when you hear the chime, release the button. (A or Space)
If you have a weapon in your hand like a sharpened stick, rock, or stripped branch, and dodge toward the animal that's attacking you, you perform a counterattack. The green mamba only takes 1 hit to kill, but warthogs, tigers, and pythons take multiple hits to kill.
If you counterattack with a stick you'll lose it so it's a good idea to keep one in each hand and switch the stick in your left hand to your right hand after an attack so you're ready for the next one.

A good strategy is to stay in the trees as much as possible since you're the only thing that can climb. Find some khat, (red leaves on a small tree) and eat a lot of it to buff yourself against broken bones, then practise moving through the trees and staying off the ground.
Before going to investigate something on the ground, use your senses to check out the area. Sound will let you find warthogs, snakes, and aligators, but may not work on cats.

The more you dodge and counterattack, the more neurons you'll unlock to make you better at those things.

[Zedd]

Before all of this though, in the early game: don't get in combat. You're the prey. You don't want to dance with a tiger.
Do as a prey does: stop frequently to listen around for sounds. Stick your nose up in the air (stand for greater range) and sniff out any potential things with teeth.
If you see, smell or hear anything moving, turn back. If you don't, advance by a bit, and do it again.
Later on, you'll learn a bunch of tricks, to the point where it's actually fairly easy. You're the predator then.

[Seems]

So I have to confess I felt quite cocky after stalking and taking out a warthog with one attack with a sharpened stick. Only to promptly get bitten by a damned green mamba and getting poisoned. Still, progress!

[Magnus Aurelius, Bright Lord]

If you are surrounded, just make them attack each other. Was teying to rescue my infant and there was a python and a leopard thingy. I brought the python to the leopard and bingo.

[Hentaika]

I actually have opposite complaint - as long as you master QTE you are too much of an Alpha predator. So much that if you are near a tree with dead branches you can literally go on a killing spree like in some hack and slash.
And when you spend a few generations to make QTE easier - it actually becomes pretty much impossible to fail it unless you do it on purpose.
All you need is basalt sharpener in one of the hands(it speeds up process a lot if you also get 2 'tool uses need 1 less strike to work' evolution traits) and being near a dead branch source to kill any enemy, even if there are multiple of them - just keep dodging after which the enemy will stare at how you sharpen the stick that will be their end.

So yeah, there is literally 0 reason not to use dodge if you feel in danger/catched off guard, since it's extremely easy and will NEVER leave you wounded, unlike attacking with something small ranged, like rock. Once you are prepared you can go for the near guaranteed kill.

[Warner Vachanges]

hold A, hear "click," release A, become alpha.