What would you say is the most dangerous animal on Earth? Sharks? Snakes? Humans? Show Of course the answer depends on how you define dangerous. Personally I’ve had a thing about sharks since the first time I saw Jaws. But if you’re judging by how many people are killed by an animal every year, then the answer isn’t any of the above. It’s mosquitoes. When it comes to killing humans, no other animal even comes close. Take a look:  What makes mosquitoes so dangerous? Despite their innocuous-sounding name—Spanish for “little fly”—they carry devastating diseases. The worst is malaria, which kills more than 600,000 people every year; another 200 million cases incapacitate people for days at a time. It threatens half of the world’s population and causes billions of dollars in lost productivity annually. Other mosquito-borne diseases include dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis. There are more than 2,500 species of mosquito, and mosquitoes are found in every region of the world except Antarctica. During the peak breeding seasons, they outnumber every other animal on Earth, except termites and ants. They were responsible for tens of thousands of deaths during the construction of the Panama Canal. And they affect population patterns on a grand scale: In many malarial zones, the disease drives people inland and away from the coast, where the climate is more welcoming to mosquitoes. Considering their impact, you might expect mosquitoes to get more attention than they do. Sharks kill fewer than a dozen people every year and in the U.S. they get a week dedicated to them on TV every year. Mosquitoes kill 50,000 times as many people, but if there’s a TV channel that features Mosquito Week, I haven’t heard about it. That’s why we’re having Mosquito Week on the Gates Notes.
Everything I’m posting this week is dedicated to this deadly creature. You can learn about my recent trip to Indonesia to see an ingenious way to combat dengue fever by inoculating not people, but mosquitoes. (Somehow this story involved me offering up my bare arm to a cage full of hungry mosquitoes so they could feed on my blood.) You can read a harrowing account of what it’s like to have malaria and hear from an inspiring Tanzanian scientist who’s fighting it. And I’ve shared a few thoughts from Melinda’s and my recent trip to Cambodia, where I saw some fascinating work that could point the way to eradicating malaria, which would be one of the greatest accomplishments in health ever. I hope you’ll have a look around. I can’t promise that Anopheles gambiae will be quite as exciting as hammerheads and Great Whites. But maybe you’ll come away with a new appreciation for these flying masters of mayhem.
Think you might know what the 10 deadliest animals might be? Our expert guide rounds up the animals causing the most number of human deaths per year – and some of them might just surprise you.
Published: June 25, 2022 at 6:15 am When you think of deadly and dangerous animals, what springs to mind? It is likely big, carnivorous, apex predators, such as lions, wolves, or sharks. What you will learn from this list however is that size and strength can be deceiving. Sharks, although often unjustly perceived as very deadly, do not even make this list, being responsible for only six human deaths a year on average. Lions? Only 22! Rather, the deadliest animals are often the smallest, and cause death not through strength, but through disease and toxins. Read on to find out more. Before we get to small and deadly, let’s start with the biggest. When you think of deadly African wildlife, you might perhaps assume lions took the top spot. In actual fact, hippos kill many more people every year. Causing an estimated 500 deaths annually (as compared to only 22 for lions), hippos are deadly land mammals. This is because they are very aggressive and territorial, and have a habit of charging at boats and capsizing them. The people on board then either drown or are killed by the animals themselves. Weighing an average of 1,500 kg (males), with large sharp teeth, it’s certainly an animal you wouldn’t want to face up against. African elephant on the move. © Manoj Shah/Getty We may perhaps think of elephants as gentle, thoughtful creatures, but they can also be deadly. This is in part due to their sheer size and weight, as the largest living land animals. Because of habitat loss and encroaching farmlands into elephant home areas, they are coming into contact with humans more and more frequently, and this has led to conflict. Groups of elephants have been known to raid farms and villages, and will gore or trample any humans that get in the way. One blow from an elephant is enough to kill, and around 500 deaths a year are caused in this way.
Saltwater crocodile, Sundarbans, India. © ePhotocorp/Getty Another deadly water-dweller you would want to avoid is the saltwater crocodile. Crocodiles as a group are quite deadly, killing around a 1,000 people a year, but they do not generally set out to hunt humans and kills are opportunistic. The saltwater crocodile however is one of the most likely to see humans as prey. It is also fierce, fast, and intimidating, being the largest living reptile and crocodilian known. Males can grow to a length of 6 metres and weigh 1,300 kg. When pursuing prey through the water they can also reach speeds of 18mph. All this together means that if a saltwater crocodile has chosen you as his prey, survival is unlikely.
Ascariasis is a disease caused by the parasitic roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides. © Sinhyu/Getty The deadly agent here is a parasite. That is, an animal that lives on or in another (a host) and causes it harm. The roundworm here is the parasite, rather than just the vector, like mosquitos. Ascaris roundworms are transmitted when a person accidentally ingests their eggs, which is unfortunately usually when food or drink is contaminated by human faeces. The worms take residence in the small intestine and use the human body to stay alive, feed and reproduce. The resulting disease is called Ascariasis, is characterised by fever, abdominal pain and swelling, and shortness of breath, and kills around 2,500 people every year. 5. Scorpions (Scorpiones order)2,600 deaths per year
Indian red scorpion, Satara, Maharashtra, India. © ePhotocorp/Getty Some of the most deadly animals are those that deliver venom. Unlike poisonous animals, who secrete toxins, venomous animals directly deliver it using specialised body parts, through a bite or, in this case, a stinger. Scorpions produce venom for the same reason that many species do, not to kill humans, but to subdue or kill their prey. However, the venom of 25 species of scorpion can be deadly to humans if you are unlucky enough to get in one’s way. Stings often happen when scorpions are accidentally stepped on with bare feet, or when they are hiding in people’s shoes. They use it as a defence mechanism against getting crushed, rather than as an attack. Around 2,600 deaths a year are caused by scorpion stings. The most lethal in the world is considered to be the Indian redscorpion (Hottentotta tamulus).
Some assassin bugs can carry Chagas disease. © Vini Souza/Getty Another insect that spreads disease and death through its bite is the aptly-named assassin bug. Some species of this Central and South American ‘true bug’ are responsible for spreading Chagas disease, another tropical parasitic disease that kills approximately 10,000 people per year globally. The species that do this are also often called ‘kissing bugs’, as they tend to bite people’s faces as they sleep. Charming. 7. Saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus)138,000 deaths per year
Saw-scaled pit viper, India (Echis carinatus). © Lensalot/Getty The venomous saw-scaled viper holds the record as the most deadly snake in terms of mortality. Snakes overall are high up on the list of deadly creatures as snake bites are responsible for as many as 138,000 deaths annually. The saw-scaled viper is a particularly aggressive species, making it more deadly than the snake that is actually the most highly toxic but also shy, the inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus). Its aggressive nature, paired with its potent venom and presence in highly populated areas, make the saw-scaled viper a snake to fear.
Planorbarius snails are the intermediate host for the trematode parasite of the Schistosoma genus, which is responsible for schistosomiasis. ©Getty This one may surprise you. More than 200,000 deaths a year can be attributed to freshwater snails. This is because they are hosts to deadly parasites, in particular parasitic flatworms known as flukes. There are as many as 24,000 species of flukes, and most of them are parasites of vertebrates (like us) and molluscs (like snails). A particularly nasty one that is transmitted by freshwater snails is called Schistosoma. The flukes live and develop within the snail then are released into the water. Humans get infected from the contaminated freshwater as the flukes penetrate the skin. This is responsible for a deadly human disease called schistosomiasis, also known as ‘snail fever’. After malaria this is considered to be the second most “socioeconomically devastating” parasitic disease, and causes as many as 200,000 deaths a year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000.
Soldiers marching in the desert. © Frank Rossoto Stocktrek/Getty It’s a cliche, but (aside from mosquitos) the most deadly animal is ourselves! Homicides account for an estimated 431,000 human deaths a year, making us by far the deadliest mammals. Our capacity for advanced tool use above and beyond that of all other animals has in some ways been our downfall, leading as it has to complex weapons that we use to kill each other. And this is not to mention the destructive impact our activities have had on the natural world, resulting in climate change, which is already estimated to cause over 150,000 deaths annually. Climate change affects human health and safety in many ways, affecting the cleanliness of our water and air, our food security, and the frequency of natural disasters. It can also increase the frequency of diseases, including ones mentioned in this list, such as malaria. The WHO estimates that between 2030 and 2050 climate change will cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year due to malnutrition and disease.
Orient mosquito (Anopheles minimus) engorged with blood, feeding on a human host. © Smith Collection/Gado/Getty The ultimate example of a very small animal with a very big impact. In terms of the number of humans killed every year, mosquitos by far hold the record, being responsible for between 725,000 and 1,000,000 deaths annually. That is not to say these tiny insects set out to kill, however. Rather than killing directly, mosquitos are instead very frequent ‘disease vectors’. This means that in the course of their feeding, on human and animal blood, they incidentally transmit infectious pathogens, carrying bacteria, viruses, and parasites from person to person. The mosquito-borne disease with the highest number of fatalities is malaria, a parasitic infection that is spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes. This disease is so widespread and lethal that it has had a massive impact on human history and even our evolution. Main image: Hippopotamus opening jaws in threat display in Kwando River, Namibia. © Paul Souders/Getty
Leoma Williams is currently studying for a PhD at the University of Manchester, and writes periodically for both the website and print magazine |
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