Biology Now, 2e

Dog (rabies)

25,000

Ascaris roundworm

2,500

Tapeworm

2,000

Crocodile

1,000

Hippopotamus

500

Lion

100

Elephant

100

Shark

10

Wolf

10

Freshwater snail

(schistosomiasis)

10,000

Assassin bug

(Chagas disease)

10,000

Tsetse fly

(sleeping sickness)

10,000

Snake

50,000

Human

475,000

Mosquito

725,000

You may have heard that humans are the deadliest animals on

the planet. It’s true that we, as a species, kill hundreds of

thousands of humans. But there’s one family of animals that

has us beat: mosquitoes. Many species of these small, pesky

insects transmit harmful infections, including Zika fever,

malaria, West Nile disease, dengue fever, and many more.

[These 15 deadliest animals are ranked in order of the average number of deaths they

are responsible for in a year, both directly and through the diseases they transmit.]

Assessment available in

World’s

Deadliest Animals