1. Box Jellyfish
The top prize for “The World Most Venomous Animal,” would go to the Box Jellyfish.
It has caused at least 5,567 recorded deaths since 1954. Their venom is
among the most deadly in the world. It’s toxins attack the heart,
nervous system, and skin cells. And the worst part of it is that jelly
box venom is so overpoweringly painful, that human victims go in shock,
drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore. Survivors
experience pain weeks after the contact with box jellies.
You have virtually no chance to survive the venomous sting, unless
treated immediately. After a sting, vinegar should be applied for a
minimum of 30 seconds. Vinegar has acetic acid, which disables the box
jelly’s nematocysts that have not yet discharged into the bloodstream
(though it will not alleviate the pain). Wearing panty hose while
swimming is also a good prevention measure since it can prevent jellies
from being able to harm your legs.
Jelly box can be found in the waters around Asia and Australia.
2. King Cobra
The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world’s
longest venomous snake – growing up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft) in length.
Ophiophagus, literally means “snake-eater” as it eats other snakes. One
single bite of this deadly snake can easily kill a human. This snake is
even capable of killing a full-grown Asian Elephant within 3 hours if
the larger animal is bitten in a vulnerable area such as the trunk.
It’s venom is not as toxic as other venomous snakes, but King Cobra
is capable of injecting 5 times more venom than black mamba and can
result in mortality up to 5 times faster than that of the black mamba.
It is quite widespread, ranging across South and South-east Asia, living
in dense highland forests.
3. Marbled Cone Snail
This little beautiful looking Marbled Cone snail can
be as deadly as any other animal on this list. One drop of its venom is
so powerful that it can kill more than 20 humans. If you ever happen to
be in warm salt water environment (where these snails are often found)
and see it, don’t even think of picking it up. Of course, the true
purpose of its venom is to catch its prey.
Symptoms of a cone snail sting can start immediately or can be
delayed in onset for days. It results in intense pain, swelling,
numbness and tingling. Severe cases involve muscle paralysis, vision
changes and breathing failure. There is no antivenom. However, only
about 30 human deaths have been recorded from cone snail envenomation.
4. Blue-Ringed Octopus
The Blue-Ringed Octopus is very small, only the size
of a golf ball, but its venom is so powerful that can kill a human.
Actually it carries enough poison to kill 26 adult humans within
minutes, and there is no antidote. They are currently recognized as one
of the world’s most venomous animals.
Its painless bite may seem harmless, but the deadly neurotoxins begin
working immediately resulting in muscular weakness, numbness, followed
by a cessation and breathing and ultimately death.
They can be found in tide pools in the Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Australia.
5. Death Stalker Scorpion
Contrarily to the
popular belief most of the scorpions are relatively harmless to humans
as stings produce only local effects (pain, numbness or swelling).
However, the Death Starker Scorpion is highly dangerous
species because its venom is a powerful cocktail of neurotoxins which
causes an intense and unbearable pain, then fever, followed by coma,
convulsions, paralysis and death. Fortunately, while a sting from this
scorpion is extremely painful, it would be unlikely to kill a healthy,
adult human. Young children, the old, or infirm (with a heart condition)
are at the biggest risk.
Death stalker scorpions are spread in North Africa and Middle East.
6. Stonefish
Maybe Stonefish would never win a beauty contest,
but it would definitely win the top prize for being “The World Most
Venomous Fish”. Its venom causes such a severe pain that the victims of
its sting want the affected limb to be amputated. It is described as the
worst pain known to man. It is accompanied with possible shock,
paralysis, and tissue death. If not given medical attention within a
couple of hours It can be fatal to humans.
Stonefish stores its toxins in gruesome-looking spines that are designed to hurt would-be predators.
Stonefish mostly live above the tropic of Capricorn, often found in
the shallow tropical marine waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans,
ranging from the Red Sea to the Queensland Great Barrier Reef.
7. The Brazilian wandering spider
The Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria) or
banana spider appears in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 for the
most venomous spider and is the spider responsible for most human
deaths.
This spider is believed to have the most potent neurotoxic venom of
any living spider. Only 0.006mg (0.00000021oz) is sufficient to kill a
mouse. They are also so dangerous because of their wandering nature.
They often hide during daytime in highly populated areas inside houses,
clothes, boots, and cars.
Its venomous bite causes not only intense pain, the venom of the
spider can also cause priapism – uncomfortable erections lasting for
many hours that lead to impotence.
8. Inland Taipan
The prize for “The World’s Most Venomous Snake” goes to the Inland Taipan
of Australia. Just a single bite from this snake contains enough venom
to kill 100 human adults or an army of 250,000 mice. Its venom is at
least 200 – 400 times more toxic than a common cobra. The Inland
Taiwan’s extremely neurotoxic venom can kill an adult human in as little
as 45 minutes. Fortunately this snake is very shy and there have been
no documented human fatalities (all known bites were treated with
antivenin).
9. Poison Dart Frog
If you ever happen to be running through the rain forests somewhere
in Central or South America, do not ever pick up beautiful and colorful
frogs – it can be the Poison Dart Frog. This frog is
probably the most poisonous animal on earth.The 2 inch long (5cm) golden
poison dart frog has enough venom to kill 10 adult humans or 20,000
mice. Only 2 micrograms of this lethal toxin (the amount that fits on
the head of a pin) is capable of killing a human or other large mammal.
They are called “dart frogs” because indigenous Amerindians’ use of
their toxic secretions to poison the tips of their blow-darts. Poison
dart frogs keep their poison in their skins and will sicken or kill
anybody who touches or eats it.
10. Puffer Fish
Puffer Fish are the second most poisonous vertebrate
on earth (the first one is golden dart Frog). The meat of some species
is a delicacy in both Japan (as fugu) and Korea (as bok-uh) but the problem is that the skin and certain organs of many puffer fish are very poisonous to humans.
This puffy fish produce rapid and violent death..Puffer’s poisoning
causes deadening of the tongue and lips, dizziness, vomiting, rapid
heart rate, difficulty breathing, and muscle paralysis. Victims die from
suffocation as diaphragm muscles are paralyzed. Most of the victims die
after four to 24 hours. There is no known antidote, Most deaths from
fugu happen when untrained people catch and prepare the fish.
Statistics show that there were 20 to 44 incidents of fugu
poisoning per year between 1996 and 2006 in all of Japan and up to six
incidents per year led to death. Since Fugu’s poison can cause near
instantaneous death, only licensed chefs are allowed to prepare it.
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