Neither shark nor snake: this is Australia's deadliest animal!
Sydney - Australia's wildlife is considered dangerous. It is teeming with poisonous spiders, snakes, sharks and crocodiles. But there are other species at the top of the list of those that cause the most deaths.
According to a survey by the National Coronial Information System (NCIS), a completely different animal is responsible for most human deaths: the horse.
The authority recorded a total of 713 animal-related deaths between 2001 and 2021.
Accidents involving horses were responsible for almost a third of these (31.1 percent), including falls in particular, according to the new NCIS factsheet.
And in second and third place are four-legged friends that hardly anyone would have thought of.
Death while walking the dog
Cattle are in second place. In the period under review, 92 people lost their lives after being kicked, trampled, knocked over or crushed by cattle. They were followed by dogs, which claimed the lives of 82 Australians.
Bites in particular, but also falls during walks, led to death here. Only then does a typically Australian animal species appear in the statistics: the kangaroo.
Most of the 53 recorded deaths were caused by collisions with the large marsupials on the endless outback roads. Snakes (50), bees (45), sharks (39) and crocodiles (25) rank only in 5th to 8th place.
This is astonishing when you consider that around 180 species of shark and the infamous box jellyfish can be found off the coasts of Down Under. In addition, seven of the ten most venomous snake species in the world are found in Australia, most notably the inland taipan. The venom from a single bite could kill up to 200 people.
Today, an antivenom is available for all dangerous snake bites. In many places, underwater nets protect against sharks, which generally only very rarely attack humans.