You might think that a tiger or a shark is the deadliest. Well, these apex predators do not take the title of being the world’s deadliest animals. You will be stunned to know that deadliest can note only be big or small animals, but the tiniest of a fly can be dangerous. Here is a list of animals that will shock you in terms of being the deadliest.
Mosquitoes
According to the World Health Organization, about 725,000 people are killed annually from mosquito-borne diseases. 200 million, of them, are alone affected by malaria. Mosquitoes carry yellow fever, hay fever, and encephalitis because of which an estimated 600,000 people die annually.
The number of mosquitoes and the risk they pose to humans add together. Unlike many other dangerous creatures, they can be found in nearly every part of the earth.
Snakes
Approximately 50,000 people are killed every year by snakes. The snake that is most poisonous in the entire world is the Inland Taipan, also referred to as the Western Taipan. They are native to central Australia. Its venom is extremely toxic and will kill a person in less than 45 minutes. More than 80 percent of people who are bitten by the Inland Taipan die. It rarely bites humans and thus is not the biggest killer.
Even the saw-scaled viper doesn’t rank in the top for venom toxicity – only 10% of the victims die – but it resides around inhabited areas and bites frequently and fast. Even the viper is estimated to kill about 5,000 people every year – more than any kind of snake. Saw-scaled viper can be found in the north of the equator, namely Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, parts of the Middle East, and Africa.
The various Krait species, also on the list of world’s very harmful snakes, are found mostly in East Asia.
Dogs
Dogs are loyal to men, but they are not as friendly to humanity. Dogs are responsible for the deaths of about 25,000 people each year. In countries where dogs commonly carry rabies are the significant involvement and reason for infections, according to the WHO.
Countries with large numbers of stray dogs like India are gravely affected. According to the World Health Organization, roughly 36% of the world’s deaths are because of rabies, and about 20,000 of approximately 55,000 deaths occur in India every year, most of them are when kids come in contact with the infected dogs.
Dying from a dog bite is much rarer. There are not any reliable global data, but of those estimated 4.5 million dog bites in the US annually, only about 30 people die typically.
Tsetse-fly
The fly is about equal in size and appearance to the ordinary housefly. The tsetse fly uses a proboscis to bite animals, including humans, and suck their blood. Once this parasitic disease is stung by the fly in an animal or human, it can cause headaches, fever, and joint pains that can be followed by swelling in the brain, vomiting, and troubled sleep. In a lay man’s language, sleeping sickness is what the tsetse fly carries.
African trypanosomiasis has caused 20,000 to 30,000 people to be infected annually. An estimated 10,000 people die from the disorder.
Crocodiles
Crocodiles do not attempt to seek human prey. However, they are opportunistic killers. In Africa alone, there are several hundred crocodile attacks on humans per year, between a third to half that might be fatal, depending on the species. Many take place in little communities and are not reported.
Worldwide, crocodiles are estimated to kill roughly 1000 humans annually, much more than sharks. Alligators, which only occur in the wild in America and China, are somewhat less competitive than crocodiles but can be dangerous. In the US state of Florida, 22 people have been killed by alligators since 1948, according to the state authorities.
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus is the world’s deadliest land mammal, killing an estimated over 500 people per year in Africa. Hippos are aggressive animals, plus they have very sharp teeth. An individual, if stuck underneath the animal, can be crushed to death in an instant as the land mammal is up to 2,750 kilograms heavy.
