Wild animals sometimes get a bad rep. Movies and television shows often do not help, as popular movies featuring really scary animals like sharks or giant crocodiles that eat up tourists rely on our primal instincts to not be eaten, and therefore help stoke fear and misinformation.
In North America, there are many wild animals that have caused human deaths. Venomous reptiles, like the rattlesnakes and such account for an average 5 deaths per year. Bears kill an average 2 people per year. Sharks, despite the fame of the Great White, on average kill fewer than 1 person per year.
A couple of interesting facts about the most dangerous animals, at least in terms of numbers of deaths they cause a year, will like surprise you. The most dangerous animals are not the bears, snakes, and sharks, such as many people believe. For example, domestic dogs kill an average of 19 people a year, far more than the more exotic suspects listed here.
But really, the most dangerous animals are not the big scary ones like wolves. The most dangerous animals are insects!
Stinging insects are responsible for an average number of 48 deaths per year. Bees, wasps, and hornets, the common insects we see every day around our gardens, flying from flower to flower, or minding their own business generally are in fact the most deadly wild animals.
Of course, the deaths attributed to these insects are caused when a person is especially sensitive to the venom injected by these insects, and the person goes into a serious allergic reaction. It is this reaction that causes shock and ends up causing the death. Fortunately, most people do not have that kind of reaction to being stung, and usually suffer no more than a few moments of pain and often some local swelling.
But having said that stinging insects are the most dangerous, let us put that in some perspective. Sure, they might be responsible for 28 deaths per year, but this pales in comparison to another major killer that we live with all the time, and usually without a second thought
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