WEBVTT - What Animals Are the Deadliest in the Wild?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogebam Here. Ask your friends which animal

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<v Speaker 1>they fear the most, and you'll probably get a myriad

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<v Speaker 1>of answers. Sharks, snakes, bears, spiders, bees, and take your pick.

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<v Speaker 1>A sharp teeth, deadly claws, venom, and sheer, size and

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<v Speaker 1>speed make us few many creatures as a menace. But

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<v Speaker 1>are the animals we perceive as fearful really the most treacherous?

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<v Speaker 1>Not always, Sometimes danger lurks in strange packages. Take, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>the adorable, bright and tiny poison dart frog, found mostly

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<v Speaker 1>in tropical forests, This little amphibian actually oozes poison from

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<v Speaker 1>its back. The toxin from one frog could kill ten humans.

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<v Speaker 1>And when you're taking a dip in the ocean, everything

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<v Speaker 1>from jaws to sensationalized media accounts may have you worried

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<v Speaker 1>about shark attacks, but animals like jellyfish are actually more concerning.

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<v Speaker 1>Take the ethereal looking Australian box jellyfish. Each of its

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<v Speaker 1>sixty tentacles, which can grow to fifteen feet that's four

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<v Speaker 1>and a half meters long, contains enough toxins to kill

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<v Speaker 1>sixty humans. And take the hefty hippopotamus, which eats mostly

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<v Speaker 1>plants and looks cute and cuddly, but don't let that

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<v Speaker 1>fool you. This giant animal is quite aggressive and widely

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<v Speaker 1>considered one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't always recommend watching movie Congo, but there is a

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<v Speaker 1>hippo attack sequence in there that may be the most

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<v Speaker 1>accurate part of that film. Other frightening creatures do live

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<v Speaker 1>up to their hype, however. For example, the saltwater crocodile,

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<v Speaker 1>which is found in India, Asia and Australia, is a

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<v Speaker 1>serious predator. It'll attack just about anything, including you, and

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<v Speaker 1>back in Africa, the lion is just as they say,

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<v Speaker 1>incredibly fast and brawny, with tearing teeth and claws. It

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<v Speaker 1>feeds on weaker mammals and will attack humans if its

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<v Speaker 1>regular food sources are scarce. Also legitimately fearsome is the

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<v Speaker 1>polar bear found in the Arctic. It's dangerous to humans

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<v Speaker 1>largely because it's not naturally afraid of us, unlike most

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<v Speaker 1>other animals, and we are certainly no match for its

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<v Speaker 1>burly strength, razor claws and teeth. And let's not forget

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<v Speaker 1>the king cobra, found in India, China, and other parts

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<v Speaker 1>of Asia. It isn't the most venomous snake in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>That honor goes to the inland typeon but the cobra's

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<v Speaker 1>extremely concentrated venomous bite can kill even an elephant. All

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<v Speaker 1>of these animals kill hundreds of people every year, but

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<v Speaker 1>one animal wins by a landslide in total human carnage.

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<v Speaker 1>Its bite results in the depths of a million people

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<v Speaker 1>a year. The most deadly animal in the world is

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<v Speaker 1>the mosquito. The majority of the deaths that causes are

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<v Speaker 1>due to malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that between

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred and five hundred million cases of malaria occur

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<v Speaker 1>every year, and that a child dies from malaria every

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<v Speaker 1>thirty seconds. It's not the mosquito itself that causes the disease,

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<v Speaker 1>but rather a parasite that the mosquito carries. Not all

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<v Speaker 1>mosquitoes carry the malaria parasite, only females of the Anopolies genus,

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<v Speaker 1>which do exist all over the world with the exception

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<v Speaker 1>of Antarctica. The mosquito transmitts malaria after biting an infected

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<v Speaker 1>person and then passes along the parasite to the next

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<v Speaker 1>person it bites. Malaria is a blood transmitted disease, which

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<v Speaker 1>means you can't contract it from casual contact with another

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<v Speaker 1>person because it's transmitted through the blood. You can contract

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<v Speaker 1>it from a contaminated transfusion or needle, but mosquitoes are

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<v Speaker 1>primarily to blame for its spread. Malaria is no longer

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<v Speaker 1>considered a public health issue here in the United States.

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<v Speaker 1>The disease virtually disappeared in the nineteen fifties when the

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<v Speaker 1>National Malaria Eradication Program AM implemented a d d T

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<v Speaker 1>that's a synthetic pesticide program to control the mosquito population. However,

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<v Speaker 1>this program saw limited success in the rest of the world.

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<v Speaker 1>Nations with a temperate climate and seasonal mosquito issues were

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<v Speaker 1>able to eradicate malaria, but in other countries, resistance to

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<v Speaker 1>insecticides and drugs, cuts and funding, and the lack of

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<v Speaker 1>participation made long term eradication efforts impossible. The United States

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<v Speaker 1>does still report a few hundred cases of malaria per year,

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<v Speaker 1>most occurring in travelers returning from areas where it's still

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<v Speaker 1>a problem. Anti malarial drugs do exist, but there's currently

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<v Speaker 1>no malaria vaccine affected countries now turned to malaria control

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<v Speaker 1>rather than eradication. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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<v Speaker 1>refers to these activities as vector control. A vector control

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<v Speaker 1>means decreasing contact between humans and disease carriers, whatever they

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<v Speaker 1>might be, on an area by area basis. The a

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<v Speaker 1>in this case is to cut down on the mosquito

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<v Speaker 1>parasite population using insecticide treated nets that drape over people's beds,

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<v Speaker 1>plus indoor spraying and larval control. Insecticide treated bednets in

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<v Speaker 1>particular can cut mortality rates by the purpose of this

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<v Speaker 1>piece isn't to scare you about mosquitoes. There's no need

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<v Speaker 1>to transfer your paranoia to them, but rather to put

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<v Speaker 1>things more into perspective. Most sharks, snakes, spiders, and other

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<v Speaker 1>horror flick animals actively avoid humans, and science can help

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<v Speaker 1>us prevent deaths from the things like mosquitoes that do

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<v Speaker 1>seek us out. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>which animals kill the most people in the wild on

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<v Speaker 1>house toffworks dot Com, written by Deborah Rnka. Brainstuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production by Heart Radio in partnership with hous toff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts,

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