BBC Science Focus Magazine – For the overall most dangerous animal in the world, the answer is surprising. In fact, there are a few surprising answers on the list!
5. Assassin Bugs (Chagas disease) – kills 10,000 humans per year
Assassin bugs are a primary spreader of the deadly Chagas disease.
Chagas disease is transmitted through an assassin bug bite or by consumption of food or drink that has been infected by the insect and/or its faeces.
The disease attacks the heart, digestive system, and nervous system.
4. Dogs (rabies) – kills 59,000 per year
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), “dogs are the main source of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99 per cent of all rabies transmissions to humans.”
3. Snakes – kills 138,000 humans per year
Dangerous snakes can be found the world over and can kill humans in various different and brutal ways.
The black mamba can kill a human with just two drops of venom from a bite.
Pythons attack by wrapping their long bodies around and constricting their prey, suffocating them and breaking their bones.
2. Humans (homicides only) – kills 400,000 humans per year
Globally, 0.7 per cent deaths in 2019 were the result of homicide, with homicides accounting for more than 7 per cent of deaths in El Salvador.
Humans aren’t alone in killing their own kind. It happens all across the animal kingdom.
1. Mosquitoes – kills 725,000 per year
Mosquitoes are the most dangerous animal in the world, killing 725,000 humans per year through spreading diseases such as malaria.
Through their high capacity for killing, this tiny little flying insect has steered the course of human history on multiple occasions, essential to American independence and the rise and fall of Rome.
Malaria infection is particularly bad in Africa, with the region accounting for 95 per cent of cases and 96 per cent of deaths worldwide …
