From massive beasts to tiny creepy-crawlies, these creatures have a reputation for being killers—and they are! But their death tolls are not nearly as high as you might think.
Sharks
For decades, Hollywood blockbusters have portrayed sharks as toothy killing machines with a taste for human flesh. But shark attacks, and fatalities, in particular, are probably much rarer than you think. Some species of sharks, like the whale shark and the basking shark, don’t pose a threat to humans at all, despite looking pretty menacing. Even the species of sharks responsible for the most attacks on humans (bull sharks, tiger sharks, and white sharks) don’t actively seek to eat humans. They prefer the taste of fish and seals and can actually find humans difficult to digest. On average, sharks are responsible for six human deaths a year. That’s notably fewer than some much less maligned creatures, including hippopotamuses, elephants, and cows (yes, cows)! Find out some more animals that you didn’t realize were more dangerous than sharks.
Bears
“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” While the Cowardly Lion is the gentle giant who befriends Dorothy’s gang in The Wizard of Oz, bears are actually the least deadly of the three predators from this famous scene. It can be challenging to get a precise estimate of how many humans lions and tigers kill per year, but it’s always quite a bit higher than bears’ statistics. Estimates of human deaths by both lions and tigers can range from 50 to 100, highest in countries such as Tanzania and India. Combined, brown and black bears only kill an average of one to three humans a year in their native United States and Canada.
Spiders
Don’t get us wrong—black widow spiders are deadly. But many types of spiders—even some of the biggest and scariest-looking ones—don’t often bite and certainly can’t kill you. Spider bites cause an average of seven human deaths per year in the United States. That’s fewer than
A.Animals that aren’t as dangerous as they look
B.Animals that look friendly but dangerous
C.Creatures that aren’t deadly to human beings
D.Beasts that have a reputation for being killers