Our vast world is full of a wide variety of animals, many of which are very dangerous. In the animal world there is only one law - the strongest survives. Our list of the deadliest animals may surprise you. There are animals here that you probably expected to see, but there are also completely unexpected representatives. Be that as it may, here is a list of creatures that are best avoided.
13
Siafu ants - up to 30 deaths per year
Siafu ants are a species of nomad ants. They do not build anthills, but constantly move around, eating and killing everything in their path. Imagine a well-organized army of 40-50 million individuals. They have a clear hierarchy. There are soldier ants that go ahead to protect the worker ants. The queen lays eggs, which they grow and feed in short stands.
There is no animal that they could not kill in their path. Real cases were recorded when they killed hippos and even elephants. They kill such large animals by penetrating the lungs through the mouth, causing suffocation. They have a sting, but they prefer to bite the victim. Each bite is very painful.
By the way, Siafu ants can be seen in one of the episodes of Indiana Jones, when they kill the victim in seconds and drag them into their shelter. Of course, their strength in the film was somewhat exaggerated, but they still remain the most deadly ants on Earth.
And in an article about the most dangerous insects in Australia on our site most-beauty.ru, we wrote about a beast ant, whose poison can be fatal for some groups of people.
12
African Lion - 20+ deaths per year
The main strength of lions in their cohesion and joint hunting. Lions are the only feline species that come together in groups known as prides. The pride usually includes 3-4 males and up to 10 females. Over time, the grown males form their pride, becoming leaders. Lions grow up to one and a half meters in length and can weigh 250 kg.
Man does not often become the subject of lion hunting, but this does happen.
In 1898, a pair of cannibalistic lions killed 28 railroad workers. These powerful cats can jump up to 4 meters in height and run at a speed of 80 km / h. Not many other animals can resist them.
11
African savannah elephant - 500 deaths per year
As you know, the African elephant is the largest of the mammals that lives on Earth. It grows up to 4 meters in length and can weigh more than 10 tons. Indeed, a huge animal. They have large and powerful tusks that grow up to 18 centimeters per year. We can say that they are at the top of the food chain, since they do not have a natural predator that would hunt them. Their huge size discourages any desire to attack, even among flocks of predators.
In this video you will see how unfriendly wild elephants can be:
Elephants feed on vegetation and can eat up to 230 kilograms of grass and leaves per day. Elephants also tend to be aggressive, especially if they are disturbed. To stop such a mass is almost impossible. The intelligence of elephants is known to be comparable to that of primates. They can remember the offender and remember him all his life. Although not many people become victims of elephants, but for their strength and mortal danger, they are on our list.
10
Hippopotamus - 500 deaths per year
We all have the illusion that a hippopotamus is such a kind, lazy creature with a huge mouth and small ears. This is a profound error. Most of them live in southern Africa. They are herbivores, but have huge, powerful fangs in their arsenal and can weigh almost one and a half tons. In ancient Greek, a hippo means "river horse". And looking at this video, we can understand why the hippo looks like a horse:
In fact, hippos are very aggressive. With their mass, they can crush anything and anyone. They often attack floating boats, often for no apparent reason. Also, they do not favor lions and crocodiles. Many animals bypass the hippos because of their wild nature. Each year, about 500 people become victims of hippos.
9
Tapeworm
Turning to parasites, tapeworms are responsible for an infection called cysticercosis, which kills about 700 people a year.
8
Crocodile - 1,000 deaths per year
Crocodiles are waiting predators who wait in ambush for animals or fish to approach, and then attack the victim with lightning speed. Crocodiles eat many types of animals, which depends on the size, age and type of crocodile. Smaller representatives feed on fish, while larger ones can attack buffalo, antelopes, wild boars. If the crocodile sees a victim in front of him that he can grab, then he will not turn back. A person also often becomes part of the diet of this toothy predator. It is estimated that they kill more than 1,000 people each year. Therefore, crocodiles are also on our list of deadly animals.
7
Human Roundworm - 4,500 deaths per year
According to official data from a study conducted in 2013, roundworm leads to a disease called ascariasis, from which more than 4.5 thousand people die every year. Being in the intestines, they can continue to conquer the host body. Ascaris eggs often penetrate the liver, heart and other internal organs.
6
Tsetse Fly - 10,000 deaths per year
The Tsetse fly drinks human blood and infects with sleeping sickness. This disease brings the victim headaches, fever, aching joints, vomiting, and even cerebral edema. Tsetse is not very different from the usual housefly for us. Tsetse flies can produce large offspring throughout their lives. Observations show that between 18,000 and 25,000 people become infected with the disease each year, most of whom live in South Africa, and about 10,000 die.
5
Freshwater snails - 20,000+ deaths per year
It would seem that there can be bad things in these glorious mollusks? We often see them in small rivers, aquariums; children are happy to catch them and play with them. It turns out that some freshwater snails are carriers of parasitic worms that are dangerous to humans. They live in tropical areas and carry schistosomiasis. This disease can cause severe abdominal pain, dermatitis, intoxication, blood in the stool or urine, and many other unpleasant symptoms that can lead to death.
Millions of people are infected with this infection, and, according to the World Health Organization, from 20 to 200 thousand deaths are associated with schistosomiasis annually. The disease is very common in poor areas of Africa, where people do not have access to clean water.
4
Dogs - 35,000 deaths per year
Surprisingly, dogs are also on our deadly list. 25,000 people die from dog bites and diseases every year. Rabies is very common among stray dogs, especially in India. In densely populated areas of India, they are not very concerned about the growing population of stray dogs. They gather in packs and pose a real threat to man. Almost 40% of all people who died from rabies lived in India. Although a dog infected with rabies avoids crowding, it can bite other dogs, and in turn, humans. So there is a spontaneous outbreak of rabies. If you do not control the population of dogs, then from "our smaller brothers" they can turn into a big problem.
Have you read our rating of the most beautiful dog breeds? If not, we highly recommend it!
3
Snakes - 100,000 deaths per year
A large number of people also die from snakes. Almost 55,000 people die from fatal bites every year. Everyone knows that this creature is very dangerous. Even if the snake is not poisonous, we still experience some caution and fear.
The most dangerous snake in the world is the island taipan. Poison from one of his bites is enough to kill 100 people. Taipan immediately inflicts 8-10 bites so that the victim dies faster. Although taipan is very dangerous, it attacks humans rarely enough, because it lives away from civilization. The island taipan is not one of a kind, it also has coastal and Central Asian.
2
Mosquitoes - 750,000 deaths per year
Although these are tiny creatures, they are some of the deadliest creatures in the world. Mosquitoes kill as many people a year as no other animal on Earth. Statistics from the World Health Organization show that at least 730 thousand people become victims of these bloodsucking annually. Together with a direct threat, they carry with them serious illnesses: malaria, encephalitis, yellow fever, dengue fever.
One of the main reasons for this danger of mosquitoes lies in their infinite number. They can be found in almost all corners of our planet. Some diseases are incurable, and malaria kills 20% of those infected. One of the worst deaths from mosquitoes can be a swarm of 1 billion insects that suck out all of the victim’s blood in a few minutes.
Do you think mosquitoes live in Antarctica? You can find the answer to this question in this article.
1
Person
It is sad, but the main enemy of people is man. According to various sources, more than 500,000 intentional killings of people are committed annually in the world! Thus, we can say that on average in the world one murder is committed per minute. According to the UN, in Russia alone in 2017, more than 16 thousand people were killed. For example, in Japan (whose population is comparable to the Russian Federation), 395 murders were committed during the same period.
But the leaders of the rating here, of course, are African countries, where the socio-economic situation is very difficult.
And if we consider how much harm we do to the nature of the planet, how many animals die as a result of human activity, we will see how dangerous people are.
P.S.
Clostridium botulinum
Clostridium Botulinum is not an animal, it is a dangerous bacterium that produces a toxin that causes botulism. And we thought that she should be on this list. Only a few grams of this substance can destroy the population of an entire country, such as the United States. For humans, the danger of botulism poisoning most often lies in poorly preserved foods with a low acid content, for example, in meat that has been improperly processed. Symptoms include: blurred vision, shortness of breath, vomiting.
It is a very tenacious bacterium that is found everywhere, even at the bottom of the ocean. None of the living creatures on Earth have immunity to it. Those infected with botulism have no chance of recovery. For its ability to destroy all life on the planet, the bacterium Clostridium Botulinum is rightfully among the leaders in lethality on this list.