When it comes to the most dangerous animals, we always associate it with size and ferociousness. Enormous beasts like sharks, lions, and tigers are absolutely scary when encountered but you will be surprised that they are not on the list.
When it comes to human fatality, though, they are nothing compared to some of these cute and tiny creatures.
Below are the 8 surprisingly most lethal animals in the world—and where you might encounter them.
8. Cone Snail
Where to find: Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Hawaii.
Found in the warm seas in Southeast Asia these colorful creatures—instantly recognizable for their brown and white intricate pattern—can be seen on the shore and shallow waters, near coral reefs and rock formations, and beneath sandy shoals.
But do not ever dare to touch it. Their harpoon-like “teeth” contain a complex venom known as a conotoxin, making them one of the most venomous species of snails (yes, there are other venomous snails). And unfortunately, there is no anti-venom.
The toxin attacks your nervous system that causes paralysis within moments. It is also nicknamed “cigarette snail,” because it affords you enough time to smoke a stick before you die.
7. Pufferfish
Where to find: All over Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
Pufferfish are the second most poisonous vertebrate on the planet (check out the most poisonous creature later), their neurotoxin (called tetrodotoxin) is found in the fish’s skin, muscle tissue, liver, kidneys, and gonads, all of which must be avoided if you plan to eat them.
Wild encounters with animals are certainly dangerous, but the risk of death from a pufferfish is only possible when eating them.
But despite that, in Japan, it is considered a delicacy is known as fugu and can only be prepared by trained, licensed chefs.
Even then, accidental deaths from ingestion occur several times each year. Tetrodotoxin is up to 1,200 times more poisonous than that cyanide and can cause deadening of the tongue and lips, dizziness, vomiting, arrhythmia, difficulty breathing, muscle paralysis, and if left untreated, death.
6. Brazilian Wandering Spider
Where to find: South and Central America.
If the size of this spider isn’t enough to scare you—(about seven inches long)—then its highly venomous bite will finish the job.
Many spiders have fangs packed full of toxins but aren’t known to bite people. Unfortunately, the Brazilian wandering spider is not one of these. Even worse, this spider often lives up to its name and wanders into densely populated areas to seek shelter in dark, cozy places like the inside of shoes, clothes, log piles, cars, and other places people may stick their hands.
Human death can occur within two to six hours of a bite, typically as a result of lung failure—through fever, vomiting, and paralysis also occur. Unfortunately, there is no anti-venom for these nasty spiders.
5. TseTse Fly
Where to find: Central Africa, Congo and Angola.
The tsetse fly— the most dangerous fly in the world. Just about the same size as the average housefly—is commonly found in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially throughout countries in the center of the continent.
But unlike the regular flies, the Tsetse are nasty blood-sucking bugs. But their true terror lies in the protozoan parasites they spread known as Trypanosomes. These microscopic pathogens are the causative agent of African Sleeping Sickness, a disease marked by neurological and meningoencephalitis symptoms including behavioral changes, and poor coordination, as well as the disturbances in sleeping cycles that give the illness its name.
If untreated, the condition can be fatal. While there are no vaccines or medications available to prevent infection, methods of protection include wearing neutral-colored clothing (the tsetse fly is attracted to bright and dark colors, especially blue), avoiding bushes during the day, and using permethrin-treated gear in more remote areas.
4. Blue-Ringed Octopus
Where to find them: the Pacific Ocean around Japan and Australia.
As small as a golf ball and decorated with stunning iridescent rings of blue, hence the name blue-ringed octopus punches well above its size.
This cute and adorable octopus will not hesitate to attack when threatened, packing a neurotoxin 1,000 times more powerful than cyanide, with no known antidote—not that there would even be enough time to administer it before death occurs.
The bite of the blue-ringed octopus is so painless, that one might not even feel it happening Even if they decide to spare the human touching them, the experience of being handled depletes the energy of a blue-ringed octopus (like all other wildlife), making survival tougher for them.
3. Box Jellyfish
Where to find them: Oceans around the Philippines and Australia.
Often found floating—or very slowly moving in Indo-Pacific waters, these transparent, nearly invisible invertebrates are considered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to be the most venomous marine animal in the world.
Their namesake cubic frames contain up to 15 tentacles that can grow up to 10 feet long. Plus, those tendrils are lined with thousands of stinging cells known as nematocysts, which contain toxins that simultaneously attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. While antivenoms do exist, the venom is so potent that many human victims have been known to go into shock and drown or die of heart failure before reaching shore. They kill 20-40 people every year in the Philippines alone.
2. Golden Poison Dart Frog
Where to find them: Only in the rainforest of Colombia.
Poison darts are a large, diverse group of brightly colored frogs that can only find in the rainforest in the Amazon, Colombia, and Central America.
The most deadly of the group, the golden poison dart, inhabits the small range of rainforests along Colombia’s Pacific coast. Its poison, called “batrachotoxin”, is so potent that there’s enough in one frog to kill ten grown men, roughly the amount that would fit onto the head of a pin-able to kill a single individual. But what makes the amphibian especially dangerous is that its poison glands are located beneath its skin, meaning a mere touch will cause trouble.
1. Mosquito
Where to find them: Anywhere across the world, except Antarctica.
Anyone can agree that the Mosquito is the most annoying creature in the world. But it does not end with that. This annoying tiny insect which is present everywhere is also the most deadly creature in the world.
Our reasoning: the sheer number of deaths each year, caused by various pathogens that several species of mosquitoes (of more than 3,000 in the world) carry to humans.
Mosquitoes are the primary vectors of diseases like malaria, Chikungunya, encephalitis, elephantiasis, yellow fever, dengue fever, West Nile virus, and the Zika virus, which collectively afflict an estimated 700 million and kill roughly 725,000 people each year.
As the World Health Organization notes, more than half of the human population is currently at risk from mosquito-borne diseases.
