Top 10 Deadliest Animals in History

Top 10 Deadliest Man-Eaters in History

Lions, tigers, and man-eating leopards . . . Oh . . . god. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 deadliest man-eaters in history.

For this list, we’re looking at individual animals, as well as specific pairs, prides or packs, with the highest human kill counts.

#10: Leopard of Gummalapur

The animals on this list don’t naturally prey on humans. Often, disabilities drive them to their new diet, with humans making for easier prey. Such may have been the case with the Leopard of Gummalapur, who in the mid 20th century claimed 42 victims in south western India. Also known as the Spotted Devil of Gummalapur, the leopard terrorized the villages of Gummalapur and Devarabetta. When residents took to barricading their doors at night, it forced its way in through thatch walls. Eventually, Indian-born British hunter and writer Kenneth Anderson managed to hunt it down, and discovered porcupine quills in its right forefoot - preventing it from pursuing faster prey.

#9: Tigers of Chowgarh

Man-eaters don’t always hunt alone. Known as the Tigers of Chowgarh, this Bengal tigress and her sub-adult cub reportedly killed 64 people in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand in northern India. The true number of victims may be higher - it excludes victims who were mauled and died afterwards. In 1929, famed British hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett was asked to hunt the man-eaters down. He witnessed the tigers’ carnage firsthand, tending to the wounds of a girl who’d survived an attack, but whose scalp was left “hanging in two halves”. It took him several attempts, but Corbett eventually shot and killed both tigers. He discovered that the tigress had a broken canine, worn down teeth, and broken claws - explaining her unusual change in diet.

#8: Leopard of the Golis Range

Little is known about this man-eater, who roamed the Golis Mountains in northwestern Somalia in the late 1800s. British big game hunter H. G. C. Swayne wrote that according to locals, it claimed more than 100 victims. A panther, with dark fur that blended into the shadows, it would lie in wait on rocks that overlooked a turn in the path - ambushing its prey from above. The region’s rough terrain made leopards difficult to track, and this man-eater’s final fate is unknown. According to English traveller James Forsyth, a panther in the Seoni district of central India came close to the same victim count. The Seoni panther was said to drink its victims blood and leave the bodies.

#7: Beast of Gévaudan

A long, tufted tail; russet fur; and a huge head full of teeth . . . what WAS the Beast of Gévaudan? This man-eater stalked the former French province of Gévaudan in the 1760s, killing an estimated 113 people. Based on descriptions, it’s believed to have been a large wolf or wolfdog, but at the time there were also fears that it was a witch or werewolf. Other theories claim it was a hyena, lion, or even a mastiff armored in boar hide. King Louis XV sent in soldiers and hunters, but the deaths only stopped after farmer Jean Chastel shot a wolf-like creature with a silver bullet in 1767. It was far from France’s first troublesome wolf; in 1450 the notorious Wolves of Paris brought down 40 victims.

#6: Leopard of Rudraprayag

For eight years, the people of Garhwal in northern India lived in terror of the dark thanks to this relentless man-eater. The Leopard of Rudraprayag would catch some victims outdoors at night; but that didn’t mean locals were safe at home. The leopard would break down doors, enter through windows, and even dig through mud walls - dragging people away into the dark. Official records put fatal attacks at 125. When soldiers failed to catch the leopard, Jim Corbett, the same hunter who later killed the Tigers of Chowgarh, embarked on a ten-week hunt in 1926 that brought the leopard’s reign to an end. Corbett suspected that the leopard had gotten a taste for humans from scavenging on unburied bodies after an epidemic.

#5: Tsavo Man-Eaters

This notorious pair of maneless lions has become legendary. In 1898, the duo terrorized workers building a railway bridge over Kenya’s Tsavo River. They’d drag victims right out from their tents, and for the better part of a year defied all attempts to stop them - evading hunters and jumping over thorn fences placed around the campsite. Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, who oversaw construction, blamed them for 135 deaths - although subsequent studies have suggested he may have exaggerated. After months of attacks, Patterson himself was able to shoot and kill them. They may have turned to hunting humans after an outbreak of the virus rinderpest decimated their natural prey.

#4: Gustave

A scarred, living legend, Gustave haunts the Ruzizi River and Lake Tanganyika in Burundi. Estimated to be over 60 years old, the grizzled croc is thought to weigh a colossal 2,000 pounds. The exact number of his victims is unknown; but rumors claim he’s responsible for a staggering 300. Of course, this could be exaggerated, or the result of several animals - a common problem with reports of man-eaters. Either way, you probably wouldn’t want to get in the water with him. Eluding capture, and shrugging off bullet wounds, Gustave has attained near mythic status. He was last sighted in 2015; so today, he may actually be more “legend” than “living”.

#3: The Panar Man-Eater

In the 1900s, a prolific man-eater stalked the Kumaon Hills in northern India, reportedly killing 400 people. In 1910, Jim Corbett, who’d later hunt down the Chowgarh Tigers and the Rudraprayag Leopard, stepped in. Scouting the area, he came across a remote homestead, where the leopard had dragged a sleeping woman from her bed; her terrified husband had pulled her free, but the wounds in her throat and chest were septic. With medical aid miles away, Corbett kept watch outside through the night; but if the leopard was watching, it remained hidden; and the woman’s wounds proved fatal. Determined, Corbett returned months later, and this time succeeded - shooting the leopard as it charged, by the light of burning torches dropped by his men as they bolted. Hey, we’d be running too.

#2: Tigress of Champawat

Jim Corbett heard about the Panar Leopard while hunting an even more dangerous man-eater in 1907: the Tigress of Champawat. The tigress started killing in Nepal, evading hunters, and even the Nepalese Army - whose efforts drove her down into India’s Kumaon region. There the killing continued, reaching an estimated 436 - mostly women and children. It was one of Corbett’s earliest - and most famous - hunts. Tracking a trail of blood, he found the tigress, but was almost ambushed. The next day, he organized a beat of local villagers, who managed to drive the tigress into his sights. When he examined the body, he discovered that a gunshot had broken her canine teeth - turning her towards new prey.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable, or rather dishonorable, mentions.

Sloth Bear of Mysore
In 1957 This Indian Sloth Bear Killed at Least 12 People

Wolves of Hazaribagh
This Wolf Pack Took the Lives of 13 Children in 1981

Tigress of Jowlagiri
15 People Fell to This Fearsome Tigress

Wolves of Ashta
In the 1980s These Indian Wolves Killed 17 Children

The Wolves of Turku
This Trio of Wolves in Finland Killed 22 Children in the 1880s

#1: Lions of Njombe

The Tsavo Man-Eaters might be legendary. But they pale in comparison to the Lions of Njombe. Between 1932 and 1947, this pride of 15 lions in Southern Tanzania was responsible for some 1,500 deaths! They were cunning, travelling to villages under the cover of darkness, and reportedly using a relay system to drag bodies back into the bush. The attacks followed the colonial government’s decision to kill thousands of zebras, giraffes, and buffalos to protect livestock from an outbreak of rinderpest. However, locals had another explanation: the lions were controlled by a witch doctor named Matamula Mangeraaa, who’d been dismissed as headman from the Iyayi village. Their reign of terror was finally brought to an end by British game warden George Rushby and his scouts.