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The Hippopotamus is one of the most dangerous animals in the world, killing an estimated 500 people a year in Africa. They are extremely aggressive, unpredictable, have sharp teeth and can crush a human or predator to death with relative ease due to their size.
- Rivers, lakes & mangrove swamps
- sub-Saharan Africa, Colombia
- 40-50 years
- 13-18 ft (4 to 5.5 m)
- A rift in the valley. Lake Naivasha is what scientists call an “amplifier lake” because it shrinks and swells quickly, along with the rains. “When there’s a change in the climate, they will show that—changes in lake level, salinity,” said Lydia Olaka, a professor of environmental geology and climate science at the University of Nairobi.
- Gone fishing. Naivasha’s commercial fishing industry began by accident, decades ago, when a torrent of rain flooded a fish farm upstream on the Malewa River.
- Hungry hippos. Scientists estimate that between 29 and 87 percent of hippo attacks are fatal. You’d have a better chance of surviving a shark attack, a crocodile encounter—and magnitudes better odds at surviving a grizzly bear attack.
- Cull the hippos? The only solution to Naivasha’s standoff is “to work things around hippo behavior,” said Richard Hartley, who manages two conservation areas around the lake.
Nov 30, 2020 · In a list of the world’s deadliest animals, the BBC also says that the hippo is the world's deadliest large land mammal, “killing an estimated 500 people per year in Africa”. They wouldn’t even have to attack people. At 2,750 kilograms they can crush a person to death just by standing on them.
Hippos are also dangerous, and they frequently appear on lists of the world's deadliest animals. In 2016 the BBC reported that their attacks kill at least 500 people a year in...
- 6 min
- Fernando Duarte
May 22, 2024 · 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...
The hippopotamus could be seen as a surprise entry on this list due to being a herbivore, but thanks to its impressive set of chompers and aggressive nature it is one of the most dangerous animals on the planet.
Jun 21, 2021 · No, hippos are not the deadliest animal in the world. There isn’t an exact count of how many people are killed by hippos each year, but all estimates place hippo deaths far below those caused by mosquitoes and snakes.
