New research by All About Cats has revealed the 14 deadliest animals in the world by looking at the number of annual human deaths caused by animals worldwide. 

Every year, more than 86,000 injuries are caused by pets. However, when it comes to the most dangerous animals in the world, it appears the smaller beasts are the deadliest.

Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals in the world, due to their spreading of Malaria, which is most common in areas of Africa, Asia, South America, and some Pacific islands. In 2018 alone, the little biters caused an estimated 750,000 human deaths.

Ranking second, snakes are estimated to cause up to 100,000 human deaths per annum, mostly through venomous bites. Contrary to popular belief, most of these snake deaths do not occur Down Under, instead taking place in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Man’s best friend comes in the last spot for the top three deadliest beasts. Some breeds are thought to be more aggressive than others, however, more often than not issues of aggression can stem from when the pup is younger and untrained.

Other than mosquitoes, teeny tiny creatures in the deadliest top 10 include the freshwater snail, with an estimated 20,000 deaths caused per year, assassin bugs with 12,000, the Tsetse Fly with 10,000, the Ascaris Roundworm with 4,500, and tape worms causing 700 deaths per annum – beating out sharks, lions, and wolves.

In the United States, dogs were categorised as native animals, ranking them first for most dangerous native animals in the country with 335 fatalities caused.

Florida was crowned first for most dangerous US state in the study, as it has had the most fatalities caused by exotic animals from 1990 to present day.

For the Tiger King fans, big cats – including various species of tiger, lion, cougar, and jaguar, have caused the joint-most fatalities among exotic animals across 12 different states.

Florida again ranks first for US states with the most fatal native animal attacks, with 68 total deaths caused by alligators dating back as far as 1970. Yikes.

You can dig further into the data here: allaboutcats.com/animal-fatalities/

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