When you think of the most deadly animals to humans, you might think of a snake, or shark. Something venomous or with big teeth. But you would be wrong. The answer may surprise you…
We have researched the most human deaths caused by animals and made the top 15 list for how many humans get killed per year.
#15 – Shark: 10 Deaths
This may be on the top of most people’s list, but they actually kill very few humans compared to the fear they instill in most humans.
While they are incredibly strong, have skin-like armor and multiple rows of razor sharp teeth, they don’t actively hunt or kill humans. Most cases are a mistaken identity when they think a surfer is a seal or other prey. That together with the relatively low interaction with sharks (most sharks prefer deeper waters), they only kill about 10 humans per year. You may need to reconsider your fear of sharks now.
#14 – Wolves: 10 Deaths
Hundreds of years ago, wolves were one of our biggest predators, killing hundreds of humans per year. But ever since humans have expanded and pushed wolves out of their territories, their numbers have dwindled and we are far less likely to encounter wolves nowadays.
With only 10 deaths per year from wolves, we can definitely say they aren’t nearly as much of a threat to us anymore.
#13 – Lions: 100 Deaths
This comes at no surprise that Lions are deadly. Luckily for most of us, lions are only found in particular places in the world so they are not a daily threat. However, over 100 humans are killed by lions every year.
Most of these occur in Tanzania where the lion populations are quite close to human villages. The more these 2 worlds collide, the more likely the death toll will rise.
#12 – Elephants: 100 Deaths
While elephants are huge, with the African Elephant weighing in at 6 tons, they are actually peaceful creatures by nature. If left alone they pose little to no threat to humans.
However, with humans poaching elephants for ivory, caging them for circuses and zoos, and using them as entertainment for rides, humans often push elephants to snap or defend themselves resulting in human deaths.
Maybe these beautiful creatures should just be left alone to live out their long, free lives.
#11 – Hippopotamus: 500 Deaths
This docile, almost comical looking creature was a big surprise. They seem too lazy to be a threat, and even if they weren’t lazy, they look to slow and heavy catch us.
However that can’t be further form the truth. Hippos are notoriously aggressive and can run up to 30 mph, faster than Usain Bolt. They can swim almost unnoticed in rivers and can attack without warning.
Hippos have killed more humans than all the big cats combined. Be warned!
#10- Crocodile: 1,000 Deaths
Crocodile, the ancient, dinosaur-like beasts are known for their rows of teeth and incredibly strong jaws. Their immense strength will not give you much of a fighting chance if he gets you is his grips.
Most human deaths are from the Nile Crocodile as they are the most aggressive, mainly found along the Nile River but can be found as far down as Mozambique and Namibia. They can attribute twice as many deaths as the Hippo annually.
#9 – Tapeworm: 2,000 Deaths
The next few entries will surprise you because of their small size, and while they don’t actually eat/crush/poison you like the other deadly animals, they have a more deadly arsenal under their sleeves.
Tapeworms can deadly by causing intestinal infections from undercooked pork as well as drinking contaminated water. When the infection hits the nervous system, it can also cause neurological symptoms like epileptic seizures.
Most deaths from tapeworm are caused by poverty stricken nations with poor health care, and contributes to around 2000 deaths per year!
#8 – Ascaris Roundworm: 2,500 Deaths
Similar to the Tapeworm, the Ascaris Roundworm gives an intestinal infection, named Ascariasis. While it infects around 1 billion people per year, only 15% of people feel any symptoms. It can often remain undiagnosed for many years before needing medical attention.
Despite the huge infection rate, it only causes around 2500 human deaths per year. Which is still 250 times more than sharks.
#7 – Freshwater Snail: 10,000 Deaths
Freshwater snails can carry a parasite, which if infects a human by penetrating the skin, can cause a nasty disease called schistosomiasis. This parasite comes from freshwater snails and travels mainly through dirty water, so don’t start fearing your typical garden snails.
This affects people mostly in he agricultural field or adventure junkies that expose themselves to dirty water. It can also affect people with poor water sanitation or medical care. This nasty little disease causes over 10,000 human deaths per year.
#6 – Assassin Bug: 10,000 Deaths
Assassin bugs, aptly name for its deadly associations, carry the disease called Chagas. This disease infect 6-7 million people per year, mainly in urban areas.
Whilst only about 30% of people display symptoms, the symptoms themselves can be quite severe ranging from strokes to heart attacks.
These little guys contribute to over 10,000 deaths per year.
#5 – Tsetse Fly: 10,000 Death
Tsetse Flies are flies that bite and suck blood from their victims, but can also transmit the deadly Trypanosomiasis disease. If not treated immediately, the result is often fatal.
Found mainly in the sub-Saharan African countries. If you don’t live there, think next time before you complain about the common house fly that irritates you in your home.
#4 – Dogs: 25,000 Deaths
That’s right, Man’s best friend tops in at #4. But before you go hound your hooch, we aren’t talking about dog attacks or the like. What causes over 25,000 deaths to humans per year is rabies. 99% of which are transmitted through our beloved Canines.
The numbers are so high because of the amount of interaction we have with them. If we had the same amount of interaction with lions, it would be a lot worse!
#3 – Snakes: 50,000 Deaths
Finally we get to one of the most feared animal on the planet. No only because we encounter them regularly, but also because the majority of us don’t understand them, and are creeped out by their slithery shenanigans.
But this time the fear is logical. Snake bites kill at least 50,000 people per year, sometimes as much as 150,000. Our vast interaction with them as well as their camouflaged skins and expert hiding skills, millions of people get bitten by snakes every year. Almost 500,000 people have to have an amputation of some sort.
#2 – Humans: 475,000 Deaths
That’s right, while some would say we aren’t animals, we undeniably are. We are just the intelligent mammals at the top of the food chain. Although, how intelligent are we if we contribute to more deaths than all of the previous candidates combined?
There are around 450,000 homicides each year globally. This is excludes wars and accidents also caused by humans. It seems we are our own worst enemy, yet we are still more scared of sharks and lions. Makes you think if we are indeed the most intelligent life on this planet.
#1 – Mosquitos: Over 1,000,000 Deaths
And the winner to the most deaths caused by an animal is, the annoying mosquito! All though not fierce or scary (more annoying really), the mosquito actually contributes to more than 1,000,000 human deaths per year by transmitting diseases.
The most common being malaria, where most the deaths occur in Africa. Mosquitos also transmit other deadly diseases like dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika, West Nile, and encephalitis. All of which contribute to over 1,000,000 deaths per year according to the WHO.
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