Top 10 Animals Most Likely to Kill You

Between 1990 and 2005, lions killed over 560 people in Tanzania alone - averaging about 70 per year. This excludes fatalities in countries with smaller, but still sizable lion populations, such as Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. In rural areas, lions catch some victims outdoors, including children playing outside and workers sleeping in fields to protect their crops from pigs. But others are dragged right out of their beds. Notoriously, the two Tsavo man-eaters killed 28 railway workers building the Kenya-Uganda Railway in the late nineteenth century. Much worse were the Man-Eaters of Njombe, a pride of fifteen lions said to have killed more than 1,500 people before being hunted down in the 1930s and 40s.

That’s right. Bambi. In the US alone, deer cause an estimated 130 deaths a year, according to the US Department of Transportation. A 2005 study of fatal vehicle-animal crashes put this figure higher, at around 200. That means that deer cause more fatalities than any other animal in the US, including snakes, bears, and sharks. But Bambi’s wide-eyed innocence is still warranted; almost all these deaths occurred in deer-vehicle collisions, when the unwitting mammals ambled into the path of oncoming cars. Habitat fragmentation has led more and more deer to wander across roadways crossing their territories. Of course, the resulting collisions are much worse for the deer. Each year thousands are killed, and many more injured.

The lion might rule the savanna, but the crocodile reigns over rivers and marshes. Fatal crocodile attacks often aren’t tracked, but most estimates put them at several hundred per year. The Nile crocodile is responsible for most of these, as it lives in waters close to human habitation. Often, their human victims are ambushed while swimming, fishing, or crossing rivers. Its larger cousin, the saltwater crocodile, which lurks in the brackish waters of northern Australia and Southeast Asia, has also earned a reputation as a man-eater. Crocodiles drag down and drown their victims, then spin into a “death roll” to tear off chunks of meat. Attacks are often fatal, but some survivors have escaped by gouging the crocodile’s eyes, or beating it about the head.

We call elephants “gentle giants”, but when stirred to anger, elephants are implacable foes. National Geographic estimates that 500 people are killed by elephants each year. African bush elephants can weigh 22,000 pounds, and their tusks can reach eight feet. While Asian elephants have a smaller stature, urbanization is increasingly encroaching on their habitat, and in India they kill almost one person a day. Sharing seventh place is the hippopotamus, which also kills an estimated 500 people annually. As they wallow in the mud, hippos might appear sluggish and affable. But the colossal mammals are fiercely territorial and can gallop at 19 mph on land. They have a well-deserved reputation for capsizing boats, and in one such incident, killed one adult and 12 children in Niger.

Sometimes, it’s the killers you don’t see that are the worst. The parasitic tapeworm, which infects the digestive tract, kills an estimated 2,000 people each year, and the roundworm, which cozies up in the respiratory system, kills at least 2,700. In most cases, there are no symptoms until infections become serious. Only a few species of roundworms inhabit humans, but about a billion people worldwide suffer from ascariasis, a disease caused by the species Ascaris lumbricoides. Whereas roundworm eggs enter humans through contact with feces, tapeworms hide in undercooked meat. The species Taenia solium, associated with pork, snakes into the brain, where the feasting worms form cysts that can trigger seizures. It’s difficult to decide which is scarier or grosser.

We have a natural, instinctive fear of slitherers, sliders, and crawlers. And in many cases, it’s entirely justified. Out of 1,500 scorpion species, only 25 are capable of killing humans. But those 25 are no slouches. Scorpions stings kill an estimated 3,250 a year. Scorpions hunt using crushing/powerful pincers and a stinger that whips forward at lightning speed to paralyze and kill their prey. Loaded with a lethal cocktail of neurotoxins, these stingers are also used as a defence against potential threats. Most fatalities occur in Africa, the Middle East, India, Mexico, and South America. But even if you’re outside of these zones. . . what’s that climbing up your chair?

Sharing fourth place, these three animals are diminutive but deadly thanks to their transmission of dangerous parasites. Often biting people around the mouth, the kissing bug is a vector for the parasite that causes Chagas disease. Widespread in Latin America, Chagas disease was responsible for 7,900 deaths in 2017. Tsetse flies meanwhile are the main spreaders of African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, which caused a staggering 34,000 deaths in 1990. Since then, these numbers have steadily dropped, falling to 3,500 in 2015. As for freshwater snails, some carry parasitic flatworms that contaminate fresh water. Found in Africa, Asia, and South America, the parasites cause a disease called schistosomiasis, which in 2015 killed an estimated 4,400 people.

Dogs aren’t always man’s best friend. Each year, thousands of people die from dog attacks, most due to the transmission of rabies. According to a study published in the Lancet, rabies was responsible for 17,400 deaths in 2015. However, another study, produced by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, estimates that the annual average is actually 59,000. Rabid dogs are the principal culprits. Most cases occur in countries with high populations of stray dogs, particularly in Africa and Asia. In some villages in India, which suffers the highest rate of human rabies, the problem is occasionally compounded by puppy pregnancy syndrome - a psychosomatic illness in which people believe the bite impregnated them with puppies, leading them to seek out ineffective traditional medicine.

The World Health Organization estimates that between 81,000 to 138,000 people die each year as a result of snakebites. A further 400,000 are left permanently disabled. Cases are underreported, and other estimates vary wildly, from between 20,000 to 94,000 worldwide, to 46,000 in India alone. Either way, that’s an awful lot. The most venomous snake is the Inland taipan, whose bite can be lethal to humans within half an hour. But it lives only in arid, remote regions of Australia, so fatalities are rare. The snake responsible for the most deaths is actually Russell’s Viper, a member of the dreaded Big Four dangerous snakes in South Asia that also includes the indian cobra, the common krait, and the saw-scaled viper.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable - or dishonorable - mentions.

Cape Buffalo
Bees, Wasps & Hornets
Cows
Horses
Jellyfish

These bothersome insects are reviled for their irritating bites, but their proboscises hide much worse. When a mosquito’s needle-like mouth pierces the skin, it oozes saliva into the bite to prevent blood coagulating, ensuring a smooth, unclotted draught. But mosquitoes often carry diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever. Each year, mosquito-borne diseases kill an estimated 725,000 to one million people. Malaria is the worst of these, leading to 405,000 deaths in 2018. Most cases occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, but in coming years, experts predict, climate change could extend the disease’s reach. The spread of new, drug-resistant strains in Southeast Asia has sparked fears of a global crisis. The mosquito might be small, but for humans, it’s easily the deadliest animal.