As of: February 1, 2024, 11:47 a.m
By: Sophie Kluß
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Spiders, snakes, crocodiles?
Most people are afraid of these animals and the list of threatening creatures is long.
You can find out which ones can be particularly dangerous for us here.
1 / 12Of over 2,000 scorpion species worldwide, only around 50 species are considered fatal to humans.
Often, like in the blockbusters, it is not the largest or fearsome specimens that are the most poisonous.
Rather, it is the small, inconspicuous scorpions that claim human lives.
They crawl into shoes or hide under the covers.
There is a blister on the stinger of a scorpion whose venom leads to death after initial paralysis.
It is estimated that 5,000 deaths occur every year as a result of a scorpion sting.
© Pond5/Imago
2 / 12Not least because of the film of the same name, the great white shark is still considered by many people to be the predator par excellence.
Although it is the most dangerous marine hunter, on average only ten people die from shark attacks every year.
According to experts, sharks are not interested in humans, even though they can seriously injure them in confrontations.
© robertharding/Imago
3 / 12 Spiders are also among the deadliest animals in the world, but they are nowhere near as dangerous as most people assume.
Almost all eight-legged creatures have poison for the purpose of hunting prey, but only those species that can also be dangerous to humans are referred to as poisonous spiders - and that is only 0.0833 percent worldwide (25 of around 30,000 spider species).
The most dangerous representatives include the feeding spider and the Sydney funnel-web spider.
Some comb spiders are also considered particularly deadly, especially the Brazilian wandering spider.
It is considered extremely aggressive and sometimes attacks in a targeted manner.
Every year, around 200 people die as a result of a spider bite, which, in addition to severe pain, also causes paralysis and shortness of breath.
(Symbolic image) © blickwinkel/Imago
4 / 12The snake is the deadliest vertebrate in the world.
Many people are afraid of them - not without good reason.
While some snakes are harmless, there are numerous species that can become a deadly trap for humans.
The WHO estimates 80,000 to 140,000 deaths per year from snakebites.
The Asian sand rattle viper is considered particularly deadly.
With up to 5,000 victims, most of the fatal attacks are attributed to it.
The inland taipan is considered the most venomous snake in the world in terms of the effectiveness of its venom.
With just one bite he could kill 200,000 mice.
(Symbolic image) © Zoonar/Imago
5 / 12Man's best friend also poses a mortal danger in many parts of the world. Not because he would bite, but because dogs are considered the main carrier of rabies.
A fatal course of the disease is often observed, particularly in rural areas in Asia, Africa and South America.
According to WHO estimates, around 60,000 people worldwide die every year as a result of rabies transmitted by dogs.
© Westend61/Imago
6 / 12Unbelievable but true - almost everyone who has ever been to the sea has seen a cone snail.
They actually live in the sea and are often collected by snorkelers or divers because of their pretty shell.
But one stab is enough to end a human life through suffocation.
And there is currently no antidote.
A rule of thumb is that snails with beautiful shells are usually particularly poisonous.
But there is an all-clear: cone snails are common in all of the world's oceans.
However, the representatives that are dangerous to humans live in the Indo-Pacific, while the few that occur in the Mediterranean are harmless to humans.
It is estimated that around 10,000 deaths occur each year.
Another species of snail, the freshwater snail, is a danger to humans, with 10,000 to 20,000 deaths per year.
It transmits the worm disease schistosomiasis.
© Pond5/Imago
7 / 12 Mosquitoes not only rob us of sleep, but can also be life-threatening.
For example, they transmit malaria, the Zika virus or dengue fever, from which hundreds of thousands die every year.
This means that mosquitoes are considered the deadliest animals in the world.
It is not the insects themselves that are the danger, but rather the diseases that they pick up and transmit when they suck blood from infected people or animals.
A tsetse fly bite is also often fatal: it triggers sleeping sickness, which kills 10,000 people in Africa every year.
In this country, climate change also increases the risk of being infected with a life-threatening disease by bloodsuckers.
The Asian tiger mosquito (see photo), which Bill Gates once described as the “deadliest animal in the world”, has been spreading in Germany for years.
© Zoonar/Imago
8 / 12He is tiny, almost invisible.
And yet this intestinal parasite, as seen here as a computer-generated graphic, is a far greater danger than most wild animals: the tapeworm.
The fox tapeworm in particular can be dangerous to humans.
It's not even the adult worms that pose a deadly threat, but rather their larvae.
After they hatch, they migrate to the other organs, including the brain, lungs, spleen and heart.
There they cause what is known as alveolar echinococcosis, a disease that is usually fatal if left untreated.
Various species of tapeworms infect around 10 million people worldwide every year, causing around 2,000 deaths.
Transmission occurs through direct contact with the worm eggs.
© Science Photo Library/Imago
9 / 12Another worm, the hookworm, poses a major safety risk. Every year, around 900 million people are affected by an infection and up to 60,000 die from it.
The danger is greatest in the tropics and subtropics: There the parasites burrow into the body, usually via the feet, and thus enter the bloodstream.
They end up in the human bronchi via the lungs, cause a cough, are coughed out and, when swallowed, they finally enter the intestines.
There they cling and feed on the blood of their host.
As a result, the host develops exhaustion, fatigue, unconsciousness, depression and apathy and, if left untreated, ultimately heart failure and death.
The roundworm is also responsible for around 2,500 deaths per year.
© Pond5/Imago
10 / 12An estimated 1,000 human lives are lost to crocodiles every year.
In addition to the saltwater crocodile and the Nile crocodile, the saltwater crocodile is considered the most dangerous crocodile of all with a huge size of up to five meters.
About half of the attacks on people, mostly fishermen, are attributed to them.
The reptiles' deadly weapon is their teeth.
They have razor-sharp teeth that fit together perfectly at the top and bottom when they close their mouths.
Their powerful muscles ensure an incredible bite force of up to 1.3 tons.
It's not for nothing that crocodiles are said to have one of the deadliest bites: they effortlessly tear people in two with one bite.
© StockTrek Images/Imago
11 / 12Most people think they look awkward and clumsy.
Hippos convince us of the opposite when they start running.
The ground trembles beneath their legs as soon as they start moving.
If you invade their territory, hippos react extremely aggressively.
In Africa, they are thought to be responsible for around 500 deaths per year, ahead of lions and tigers.
© Panthermedia/Imago
12 / 12The gray pachyderms are similarly dangerous.
But unlike hippos, most fatal accidents involving elephants occur in captivity.
According to the European Elephant Group (EEG), they are considered the most dangerous wild animal in human hands due to their husbandry.
Since 1982, around 40 people have died in zoos due to elephant attacks, and more than 50 have been injured, 20 of them seriously.
It is primarily their size and the power that comes with it that makes elephants a danger to humans.
Bull elephants are far more dangerous than cows.
In the wild, however, the proboscideans prefer to avoid people.
© Thomas Eisenhuth/Imago
... and sometimes the most dangerous animal for a person is the butterfly in their stomach.
Author unknown
This quote may ring true to those in love or those disappointed.
But there are far more dangerous animals lurking in nature that cost countless people their lives every year.
Find out which animals top the list of deadliest animals in our photo gallery – surprises guaranteed.
It may be true that the wild animals listed pose a great danger to humans.
But fatal accidents often occur in connection with people's carelessness and recklessness.
Many animals then feel threatened in their natural habitat and attack to protect themselves, their herd or their offspring.
To the surprise of many, it is not the shark that claims the most lives.
And in the end, humans remain the deadliest animal anyway.
Murders and wars account for the largest number of deaths in the world.