It occurred to me a month or so ago that the most dangerous animals in Australia other than humans might be the introduced animals:
- dog, bee, cattle, horse, feral pig, camel, water buffalo, sheep, goat, cat
rather than native animals:
- saltie, taipan, other snakes, red back, funnel web, jellyfish, cone snail, shark, devil, cassowary, kangaroo, stingray, blue-ringed octopus, stonefish, magpie
or mosquito?
What do you think?
“In summary, dog attacks result in more than 2,000 hospital admissions per year in Australia.”
“It was estimated in 1991 there were up to 30,000 people going to hospital annually because of domestic dog attacks in Australia.”
https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2016/204/3/emergency-department-presentations-mammalian-bite-injuries-risk-factors
People in Melbourne who attended hospital emergency over a period of two years because of bites by mammals, “509 were dog bites, 122 were cat bites, 36 were human bites, and the remaining 50 were by monkey, rat, possum and bat.” “48% of dog bites required surgery, 34% of cat bites, 31% of human bites, and 22% of bites from other species”.
“The estimated incidence of snakebites annually in Australia is between 3 and 18 per 100,000 with an average mortality rate of 0.03 per 100,000 per year”
“3,520 Australians were hospitalised due to contact with a venomous animal or plant in 2017–18. More than a quarter of these hospitalisations were caused by bee stings (26%), almost one-fifth were caused by spider bites (19%), with redbacks the most common spider involved, and 17% were due to venomous snakes, including 215 brown snake bites. Nineteen people died due to venomous bites and stings in 2017–18.”
“A survey of Agriculture workers in 2009–10 found 17,400 had incurred a work-related injury or illness in the previous 12 months. Bitten or struck by cattle accounted for 9% of farm hospitalisations. For women from July 2006 to June 2009, 13% of farm hospitalisations involved females who had been injured in a horse-related incident with a further 6% having been Bitten or struck by horse and 10% Bitten or struck by cattle.”
“From 2015 to 2018, crocodiles in Australia killed a total of four people … average of two per year.” I count seven non-fatal crocodile attacks from Oct 2019 to Oct 2020. “in Australia, about 25% of saltwater crocodile attacks are fatal”.
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2016/03/here-are-the-animals-really-most-likely-to-kill-you-in-australia/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_attacks_in_Australia
“The 2007 edition of the Guinness World Records lists the cassowary as the world’s most dangerous bird. … A study of attacks by the southern cassowary in Queensland found 150 attacks against humans, one fatal”.
“Emu attacks are rare, but have occurred against women and children” No fatalities known.
Roo attacks are rare, one report says 15 to 20 attacks recorded between Sydney and Coffs Harbour, without stating the time frame. No fatalities known.
“There are two known deaths from a magpie attack: one caused by tetanus”.
“Between 1979 and 1998 there were 53 deaths from snakes”. “There have been 14 recorded deaths due to funnel-web spider bite over all time”. In both cases, the death rate has decreased recently due to the use of antivenine.
“It is believed that 10,000 people are bitten each year across Australia by the redback spider, about 2,000 bite victims require treatment.”
“The blue-ringed octopus has only killed 3 humans.” No time frame given.
“The bluebottle is responsible for between 10,000 and 30,000 stings on the eastern coast of Australia each summer” There were five fatalities in the 1930s, but I don’t know of any since.
“Box jellyfish have caused more than 79 deaths in Australia since records began in the 1880s. … Includng 4 deaths betwen 2002 and 2021”.
“In a fourteen-year period there were 660 Irukandji stings in Australia. About 25% of those stung being hospitalised. One death”.
“One known code shell death, in 1935.”
“The Australian Shark Attack File has recorded that since 1791 there have been 639 shark attacks in Australia with 190 of them being fatal. There has been an average of 20 shark attacks per year since 2010.”
“There have been four recorded fatalities from stingray attacks in Australia since 1945.”
“Two stonefish deaths are known, both before 1936. There were 25 cases of the use of antivenom for stonefish in the 1989-90 financial year.”
“A death due to (water) buffalo was recorded in 2005”.
Many other animals have been known to attack people causing injuries in Australia, including sea lion, whale, koala, possum, playpus, sea snake, Tasmanian devil, wallaby. No deaths known.