Which one is the deadliest animal to humans on Earth? The world’s most dangerous animal is not what you might expect.
Despite how terrifying and frightening can be, attacks by lions and sharks on humans are quite rare. Actually, on average, lions kill 250 people every year and around 40 unprovoked shark attacks per year are reported worldwide with an average of 7 fatalities. Actually, from more than 480 shark species described, only three are responsible for most of the attacks to humans:
- The great white
- Tiger shark
- Bull shark
Therefore, when you get down to the facts, neither of these animals are even close to being the most dangerous animal to humans in the world. Indeed, size doesn’t matters when talking about the deadliest creatures on Earth. Here, the five most dangerous animals in the world:
1. Mosquitoes
It has been described that there are more than 2,500 species of mosquito. In addition, mosquitoes can be found all around the world except Antarctica, including your room while you are sleeping, outnumbering every other animal on Earth during peak breeding seasons, except termites and ants.
As you can imaging, mosquitoes are not just the most annoying insects in the whole world, they also transmit several very deadly pathogens that enter your body when the mosquito feeds, including Zika virus, malaria, West Nile virus, Yellow fever and Dengue fever.
Number of people killed by mosquitoes per year: around 725,000
2. Humans
Surprised? A sad but true addition to our list of the most dangerous animals to humans on Earth. Don’t forget we are also animals and are responsible for killing nearly half a million other humans a year, demonstrating that we are often our own worst enemy. Imagine how deadly humans can be if we add on deaths caused by first a second world wars and other mass genocides.
Number of people killed by humans per year: 475,000
3. Snakes
Few animals strike as much fear into people as venomous snakes. Although more than 600 species of venomous snakes have been described, only about 200 can do any real damage to humans, including the Saw-scaled viper, king cobra, tiger snake and black mamba. Fortunately, Antivenoms can prevent or reverse most of the snakebite envenomings effects, decreasing mortality and morbidity.
Number of people killed by snakes per year: 50,000
4. Dogs
“Man’s best friend” is a common phrase about domestic dogs but everything changes when dogs are infected by the rabies virus. In unvaccinated humans, rabies is almost always fatal after neurological symptoms have developed. According to the World Health Organization, around 99% of deaths attributed to rabies are caused by dogs.
Number of people killed by dogs per year: 25,000
5. Tsetse flies
Again, size doesn’t matter. Several species of tsetse fly can transmit diseases, including African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, a parasitic infection that at first can lead to bouts of fever, headaches, joint pains and itching. Later symptoms include changes of behaviour, confusion, sensory disturbance, poor coordination and disturbance of the sleep cycle, being fatal without medical treatment.
Number of people killed by Tsetse flies per year: 10,000
Source: World Health Organization, Pixabay