Energy Agency/Wikimedia)
The world’s deadliest animal isn’t a shark or even a human.
Drawing from a graphic from Bill Gates’ blog, we decided to rank
the world’s deadliest animals.
Most of the deaths caused by animals, it turns out, have less to
do with the animals themselves than the diseases they unwittingly
transmit.
Note that some numbers are harder to get an accurate read on
than others, so these are for the most part rough estimates –
sometimes very rough. And the list is representative of different
kinds of deadly animals, but it’s by no means comprehensive.
Here are some of the animals responsible for the most human
deaths. The scariest predators aren’t as dangerous as you might
expect – but don’t underestimate the little guys.
15. Sharks: 6 deaths a year
Jose
María Melero Tejedor/YouTube
Shark attacks are pretty rare. In 2014, there were just three
deaths globally related to shark attacks, and in 2015, there were
six, which is about the average.
14. Wolves: 10 deaths a year
John
Moore/Getty Images
Wolf attacks are not common in many parts of the world where
wolves live.
A review of wolf attacks found that very few happened in the 50
years leading up to 2002 in Europe and North America, though there
were a few hundred reported over the course of two decades in some
regions of India, averaging out to close to 10 per year.
13. Lions: 22+ deaths a year
Kenya.AP/Vadim
Ghirda
Estimates for lion-related deaths also vary year-to-year. A 2005
study found that since 1990, lions have killed 563 people in
Tanzania alone, an average of about 22 a year.
Additional deaths likely occur outside of Tanzania, but it’s
difficult to find a concrete global number.
12. Elephants: 500 deaths a year
Thomson
Reuters
Elephants are also responsible for a number of deaths per year –
a 2005 National Geographic article said that 500 people a year are
killed in elephant attacks.
Far more elephants have been killed by people.
11. Hippopotamuses: 500 deaths a year
REUTERS/Ivan
Milutinovic
For a long time, hippos were considered the most deadly animal
in Africa. Hippos are known for being aggressive toward humans,
including tipping over boats.
9. Tapeworms: 700 deaths a year
Tomas
De la Rosa/Wikimedia Commons
Moving to parasites, the tapeworm is responsible for an
infection called cysticerosis that kills an estimated 700 people a
year.
10. Crocodiles: 1,000 deaths a year
Rob
Griffith/AP
Crocodiles are now considered the large animal responsible for
the most human deaths in Africa, according to the Food and
Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, though concrete
numbers are tricky to gather.
8. Ascaris roundworms: 4,500 deaths a year
CDC
The Ascaris roundworm leads to an infection called aschariasis
that kills an estimated 4,500 people a year, according to a 2013
study.
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The WHO notes that the infection takes place in people’s small
intestine, and it’s a disease that affects more children than
adults.
5. Tsetse flies: 10,000 deaths a year
International
Atomic Energy Agency/Wikimedia
The tsetse fly transmits a disease called sleeping sickness, a
parasitic infection that at first can lead to headaches, fever,
joint pain, and itchiness, but later can lead to some serious
neurological problems. The number of deaths has been
decreasing.
With about 10,000 new cases now reported each year, the
estimated number of annual deaths is likely on the decline as
well.
6. Assassin bugs: 12,000 deaths a year
The assassin bug, also called the kissing bug, is responsible
for carrying Chagas disease, which kills about 12,000 people a year
on average.
Chagas disease is a parasitic infection passed by the bug, which
got its nickname by biting people on the face.
7. Freshwater snails: 20,000+ deaths a year
Flickr/anemoneprojectors
The freshwater snail carries parasitic worms that infect people
with a disease called schistosomiasis that can cause intense
abdominal pain and blood in the stool or urine, depending on the
area that’s affected.
Millions of people contract the infection, and the WHO estimates
that anywhere between 20,000 and 200,000 deaths can be attributed
to schistosomiasis.
4. Dogs: 35,000 deaths a year
motionshooter/Shutterstock
Dogs – specifically dogs infected by the rabies virus – are one
of the deadliest animals out there, though the virus can be
prevented using vaccines.
About 35,000 deaths can be attributed to rabies, and of those
cases, 99 percent are caused by dogs, according to WHO.
3. Snakes: 100,000 deaths a year
Nasser
Nuri/Reuters
Snake bites kill more than 100,000 people a year as of 2015.
Worse still, there’s a troubling shortage of an essential
antivenom.
2. Humans: 437,000 deaths a year
Reuters/Shannon
Stapleton
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, there
were about 437,000 homicides in 2012, making humans the second most
deadly animal (and the deadliest mammal) to humans.
We are not quite our own worst enemy – but we’re pretty
close.
1. Mosquitoes: 750,000 deaths a year
Thomson
Reuters
Mosquitoes – the pesky bugs that suck blood and transmit viruses
from person to person – are responsible for the most animal-related
deaths.
Malaria by itself is responsible for more than half of
mosquito-related deaths, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa,
though it’s on the decline: The incidence of malaria fell by 37
percent between 2000 and 2015, according to the World Health
Organisation.
Dengue fever, another mosquito-borne disease, has become a
leading cause of hospitalisation and death among children in some
Asian and Latin-American countries.
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/08/24/these-are-the-top-15-deadliest-animals-on-earth-www-bark-i-ng/