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Australia’s deadliest animal causes amazement

Australia is home to a large number of animals that can be deadly to humans. Venomous spiders, sharks, jellyfish and snakes claim numerous victims every year. However, most deaths are caused by another representative of the fauna that many people would probably pet ...

A survey by the national database National Coronial Information System (NCIS) revealed a surprise: the horse is the deadliest animal for humans Down Under. And in second and third place are four-legged friends that hardly anyone had on their radar.

The authority recorded a total of 713 animal-related deaths between 2001 and 2021. Almost a third of these (31.1 percent) were caused by accidents involving horses, mainly falls.

Death while walking
Cattle are in second place. In the period under review, 92 people lost their lives after being kicked, trampled, knocked over or crushed. This was followed by dogs, which claimed the lives of 82 Australians. Bites in particular, but also falls during walks, led to death here.

Kangaroo in fourth place
Only then does a typically Australian animal species appear in the statistics: the kangaroo. Most of the 53 recorded deaths were caused by collisions with the large marsupials on the endless outback roads. Supposedly life-threatening snakes (50), bees (45), sharks (39) and crocodiles (25) rank only in 5th to 8th place.

This is astonishing when you consider that around 180 species of shark and the infamous box jellyfish can be found off the coasts of Down Under. In addition, seven of the ten most venomous snake species in the world are found in Australia, most notably the inland taipan. The venom from a single bite could kill up to 200 people. However, an antivenom is now available for all dangerous snake species. In many places, underwater nets protect against sharks, which generally only very rarely attack humans.