What Are The Odds Of Being Killed By An Animal In Australia? [Infographic]

Many foreigners consider Australia to be a supremely dangerous continent where 99.9 per cent of fauna wants to kill you. Australians, for their part, are oddly proud of this fact. (It means we have “harder” citizens, or something.)

But where do we actually rank globally when it comes to animal-related fatalities? This infographic from Man Vs Beast shows how we compare to the rest of the world. It also shows which animals are the deadliest.

The below data is based on the estimated number of yearly animal-related deaths compared to the population in various geographic regions. Explains the blog:

“We researched lists of the top deadliest animals in the world and the estimated number of yearly fatalities each species had caused. In some instances, we created estimated average yearly deaths by dividing the number of fatalities over a span of years.”

The most deadly continent is actually Africa, where an astonishing 1 in 2221 people meet their demise at the jaws, claws or proboscis of an animal. Okay, so the total includes disease-spreading insects such as the mosquito which causes millions of malaria related deaths each year. Nevertheless, it’s still a sobering statistic.

Australia, meanwhile, has a death ratio of 1 in 402,750 with the box jellyfish leading the pack. It’s worth noting that Man Vs Beast based its research exclusively on animals that have a reputation for killing. You’ll note that horses and livestock don’t feature anywhere on the Australian list, despite being our biggest killer. So it’s best to take these findings with a grain of salt.

To increase your chances of surviving against one of these critters, be sure to read our Animals Attack series which provides defensive tips for everything from sharks to mountain lions. You’re welcome.


[ViaMan Vs Beast]


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