Number 10: the hippopotamus, although herbivorous, regularly attacks humans who come too close to their territory.
Number 9: the crocodile, a predator with silent but violent attacks.
Number 8: flatworm, a parasitic worm responsible for tetrodotoxin, a deadly toxin in high doses.
Number 7: Ascaris lumbricoides, a worm that carries ascariasis, an intestinal disease.
Number 6: the freshwater snail kills many people each year by transmitting schistosomiasis, a persistent disease in Africa.
Number 5: the beetle, a small insect that carries Chagas disease (also called American trypanosomiasis).
Number 4: the tsetse fly causes 10,000 deaths a year by transmitting sleeping sickness.
Number 3: the dog. Astonishing as it may seem, man’s best friend kills 25,000 people a year with his bites which can transmit rabies.
Number 2: the king cobra and the desert taipan are among the most venomous snakes in the world, but other snakes such as the viper or the rattlesnake can inject venom that is deadly to humans.
Number 1: the mosquito. Although being the smallest, it is the most dangerous animal in the world. It causes the death of nearly 720,000 people a year by transmitting serious diseases such as malaria, dengue or yellow fever.
