Mosquitos are by far the deadliest creature in the world when it comes to annual human deaths, causing around one million deaths per year, compared to 100,000 deaths from snakes and 250 from lions. Perhaps surpringly, dogs are the third deadliest animal to humans.
Of the 254 confirmed and reported animal-related deaths during that 10-year period, horses, cows and dogs were the most frequent culprits, accounting for 137 deaths. Horses (including ponies and donkeys) were the most 'deadly' animal in Australia, causing 77 deaths in 10 years, mostly related to falls.
Interestingly, Australia only has 66 venomous species, whereas Mexico has 80 and Brazil has 79. Yet Australia has the ones with the most deadly venom. The box jellyfish, marbled cone snail, blue-ringed octopus and stonefish are in the top ten most venomous animals of the world, and all live in Australia.
The Dingo is Australia's largest terrestrial carnivore, though it occasionally eats plants and fruits. They're opportunistic hunters, but will also scavenge food. The bulk of their diet is made up of meat: they eat kangaroos, wallabies, feral pigs, wombats, small mammals (rabbits, rodents), birds and lizards.
Australia's apex predator, the dingo (Canis dingo) influences the abundance and behaviour of herbivorous prey and mesopredators in arid ecosystems. The dingoes' ecological role is uncertain in more productive forested environments of eastern Australia.
Horses and cows kill the most humans every year in Australia
It really is no joke.
Here is a sentence that is at once absurd and unsurprising: in 1932, Australia declared war on emus. It sounds like a joke, but the Great Emu War of Western Australia was real. Soldiers with machine guns were deployed to fight off the flightless birds. What did the emus do to deserve armed combat?
Key statistics
The mortality rate remained low in 2021 (507.2 per 100,000 people). Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death.
In terms of the number of humans killed every year, mosquitos by far hold the record, being responsible for between 725,000 and 1,000,000 deaths annually. That is not to say these tiny insects set out to kill, however.
There's even a circadian rhythm of death, so that in the general population people tend on average to be most likely to die in the morning hours. Sometime around 11 am is the average time,” says Saper.
Future Health of our Nation (Text)
Greater numbers of older people will require care for chronic diseases and age-related health problems. Deaths from Alzheimer's, hepatitis C and certain cancers are rising. By 2030: Cancer may overtake heart disease as the #1 cause of death, killing 640,000 people each year.
982 live births average per day (40.90 in an hour) 488 deaths average per day (20.32 in an hour)
Australia's history is different from that of many other nations in that since the first coming of the Europeans and their dispossession of the Aboriginals, Australia has not experienced a subsequent invasion; no war has since been fought on Australian soil.
Afghanistan was Australia's longest war, and the past few months have been a painful reminder of the sacrifices made by the men and women of the Australian Defence Force.
From the 1830s British invasion spread rapidly through inland eastern Australia, leading to widespread conflict. War took place across the Liverpool Plains, with 16 British and up to 500 Indigenous Australians being killed between 1832 and 1838.
Four species of sharks account for the vast majority of fatal attacks on humans: the bull shark, tiger shark, oceanic whitetip shark and the great white shark.
Animals with no natural predators are called apex predators, because they sit at the top (or apex) of the food chain. The list is indefinite, but it includes lions, grizzly bears, crocodiles, giant constrictor snakes, wolves, sharks, electric eels, giant jellyfish, killer whales, polar bears, and arguably, humans.
There are wild big cats in Australia
Large (sometimes black) feral dogs and dingoes, foxes and even wallabies explain some 'big cats' sightings, but not all of them. Australian big cats aren't just represented by eyewitness accounts and hazy photos, but by some pretty good photos, and also by a number of dead bodies.
Perhaps the most feared predator in the world, the great white shark truly is the king of the oceans, and thanks to movies such as Jaws is generally feared – and even hated – by humans.
Visual or auditory hallucinations are often part of the dying experience. The appearance of family members or loved ones who have died is common. These visions are considered normal. The dying may turn their focus to “another world” and talk to people or see things that others do not see.
Gasping is also referred to as agonal respiration and the name is appropriate because the gasping respirations appear uncomfortable, causing concern that the patient is dyspnoeic and in agony.
The deadliest month in the U.S. is the one that heralds the New Year: January. An average of 251,699 people in the U.S. died in January every year between 2010 and 2020, according to a Live Science analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wonder database, which tracks how and when people die.