Isn’t it true that we all adore animals? Especially the charming ones and some adorable ones out there are difficult to resist.
However, there are occasions when resistance is required. Just because an animal has huge, lovely eyes and fur as soft as freshly fallen snow doesn’t imply it’s safe to touch it. Cute can be dangerous at times.
So be aware, be cautious, and understand what you’re getting yourself into before you do anything stupid, like try to pet an animal that can rip your hand off in one quick bite.
So we have listed 12 cute animals that can kill you. Let’s not give them that opportunity.
Table of Contents
1. Elephant
| Scientific Name | Loxodonta |
| Found In | Variety of environments, including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes, throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia |
| How can they kill you? | Goring, treading on, or delivering a forceful blow with their trunk |
| Kills per year | 100 – 500 |
Elephants are frequently depicted as charming giants, and elephants that trainers and zookeepers have domesticated can be pretty gentle.
On the other hand, an elephant can be one of the most lethal animals if it is irritated, abused, or encountered in the wild.
Elephants are prone to outbursts of fury and have a reputation for being vengeful.
They kill via goring, treading on, or delivering a forceful blow with their trunk. Many individuals are killed every year in India by mistreated or raging elephants.
Elephants kill roughly 500 people each year, according to the National Geographic Channel documentary “Elephant Rage.”
2. Pufferfish
| Scientific Name | Tetraodontidae |
| Found In | Subtropical ocean waters |
| How can they kill you? | Kills by paralyzing the diaphragm, resulting in suffocation. |
| Kills per year | 100 |
A fully extended, portly pufferfish is one of the cutest fish around, but don’t be fooled. The pufferfish is the world’s second most poisonous vertebrate.
To minimize poisoning and the chance of being bitten when removing the hook, fishermen recommend using thick gloves.
A pufferfish’s toxin, which has no antidote, kills by paralyzing the diaphragm, resulting in suffocation.
Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a poison that makes them taste bad to fish (and can even kill them).
Tetrodotoxin is extremely dangerous, up to 1,200 times more so than cyanide. A single pufferfish has enough toxins to kill 30 adults.
3. Slow Loris
| Scientific Name | Nycticebus |
| Found In | South and Southeast Asia |
| How can they kill you? | The animal may lick or massage this concoction into its fur. Some people die from anaphylactic shock caused by this toxin. |
| Kills per year | N/A |
The slow loris appears to be innocuous; however, it is one of the world’s only venomous mammals.
The illegal pet trade is attracted to its subtle nature, but this fluffy critter also contains a toxin produced by the brachial glands on the sides of its elbows.
When threatened, the loris can take the venom and mix it with saliva in its mouth.
To stave against predators, the animal may lick or massage this concoction into its fur. Some people die from anaphylactic shock caused by this toxin.
Slow lorises have always piqued scientists’ interest, but they’ve never been able to figure out why they have venom and what they do with it?
According a new study in Current Biology, slow lorises mostly use their toxic bites to battle with others rather than defend themselves against other species.
4. Moose
| Scientific Name | Alces alces |
| Found In | Northernmost parts of the United States, from Maine to Washington, as well as parts of Canada and Alaska |
| How can they kill you? | Charge with aggressiveness if they feel threatened or disturbed. |
| Kills per year | 5 to 10 people |
Don’t be fooled by their cute, cuddly appearance; moose are among the most deadly and often encountered creatures on the planet.
They tend to leave humans alone, but they have been known to charge with aggressiveness if they feel threatened or disturbed.
They kill more humans each year than bears, and they’re more vicious when guarding a calf or during the rut.
Moose hurt more people than any other wild mammal in the Americas, and only hippopotamuses injure more people worldwide.
5. Big Cats
| Scientific Name | Panthera leoPanthera tigris |
| Found In | From savannas and tropical rain forests to mangrove swamps and boreal forests |
| How can they kill you? | Claw at their prey’s rump, shredding the area, and then clambering up to the throat region, strangling it. |
| Kills per year | 1,000 |
They may resemble an overgrown version of your pet, but keep in mind that almost all non-domesticated big cats would eat you.
However, all of the world’s big cats, including tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards, and cheetahs, can threaten humans if mistreated or provoked.
In the United States, 19 states have passed legislation prohibiting the ownership of large cats and other hazardous exotic animals as pets, and the Captive Wildlife Safety Act prohibits the sale and transportation of these creatures across state lines.
Tigers have murdered more people than any other big cat, and they have killed more people directly than any other wild species.
During the early 1900s, almost 1,000 people were reputedly slaughtered in India each year, with one Bengal tigress killing 436 people.
6. Cassowary
| Scientific Name | Casuarius |
| Found In | Australia and New Zealand’s rain forests. |
| How can they kill you? | Capable of high-speed running and leaping, attacks by throwing its huge claws forward to dismember its prey. |
| Kills per year | N/A |
The cassowary prefers to keep a low profile, but it can become hostile and territorial when disturbed.
The flightless bird resembles a flashy ostrich and can be found in Australia and New Zealand’s rain forests.
The cassowary, capable of high-speed running and leaping, attacks by throwing its huge claws forward to dismember its prey.
Cassowaries have a terrible reputation for attacking humans and domestic animals.
A 2003 historical research of 221 cassowary attacks found that 150 were against humans, with 75 percent of them coming from cassowaries fed by humans, 71 percent of the time the bird chased or rushed the victim, and 15% of the time they kicked.
7. Bears
| Scientific Name | Ursidae |
| Found In | Sixty nations in the Northern Hemisphere, mostly in Asia, North America, and Europe |
| How can they kill you? | Bites in by hanging on to the lower jaw |
| Kills per year | 2–5 persons every year in North America |
Bears are among the most endearing large carnivores on the planet, frequently included in children’s stories and cherished as teddy bears.
Given that they are on the shortlist of animals known to chase and murder humans, it’s an odd relationship.
The most dangerous bears are grizzlies and polar bears, although any large bear, including the vegetarian giant panda, can be harmful.
Between 1900 and 2009, there were 59 fatal black bear assaults in the United States and Canada, as per the study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management.
8. Poison Dart Frog
| Scientific Name | Dendrobatidae |
| Found In | Central and South America |
| How can they kill you? | Have these harmful substances will be secreted by glands on their necks and backs. |
| Kills per year | N/A |
Poison dart frogs, also known as Dendrobatidae, have some of the most vibrant and gorgeous colors on the planet. They contain some of the most poisonous animals.
The two-inch-long golden poison frog poison is enough to kill ten mature men. For ages, Colombia’s indigenous Emberá people have employed its potent venom to tip their blowgun darts when hunting, earning the genus’ common name.
The source of poison dart frogs’ toxicity is unknown, although it’s probable that they ingest plant toxins carried by their food, such as ants, termites, and beetles.
Poison dart frogs that have been grown in captivity and isolated from insects in their natural environment never develop poison.
9. Blue-Ringed Octopus
| Scientific Name | Hapalochlaena |
| Found In | From Japan to Australia, tidal pools and coral reefs can be found in the Pacific and Indian oceans. |
| How can they kill you? | Venom bites |
| Kills per year | N/A |
One of the world’s most dangerous species, the small blue-ringed octopus, can kill an adult human in minutes. Because of the venom, bites from blue-ringed octopi are fatal to humans.
The venom has the potential to kill more than 20 people in a matter of minutes, though this is exceedingly improbable.
Unless provoked, blue-ringed octopi will not bite. Furthermore, they are usually hidden during the day and awake at night.
There have been very few occurrences of death caused by bites from blue-ringed octopi in recent decades.
Only three human deaths have been documented, according to 2008 research.
10. Leopard Seal
| Scientific Name | Hydrurga leptonyx |
| Found In | Antarctic |
| How can they kill you? | Make use of their strong jaws and lengthy teeth. |
| Kills per year | N/A |
In its natural habitat in the Antarctic, the leopard seal is at the top of the food chain, and this is one predator you don’t want to swim with.
It is fearless, powerful, and curious, and it will hunt humans, though it prefers penguins. Leopard seals have never been utilized in any systematic way.
They are currently protected under the Antarctic Seal Conservation Convention (1972), limiting their kills to 12,000 per year.
While snorkeling in Antarctica in 2003, researcher Kirsty Brown of the British Antarctic Survey was killed by a leopard seal. This instance was the first time a leopard seal had killed a human.
Leopard seals have a penchant for puncturing rigid inflatable boats’ black, torpedo-shaped pontoons, prompting researchers to equip their vessels with specific protective guards to avoid punctures.
11. Giant Anteater
| Scientific Name | Myrmecophaga tridactyla |
| Found In | Central and South America, Uruguay, and El Salvador |
| How can they kill you? | With their front claws, they inflict devastating wounds |
| Kills per year | N/A |
This enormous monster eats only ants and termites, which you wouldn’t guess from its appearance.
Its size is dangerous, but the powerful, sharp claws are the real weapons. When threatened, an anteater may maul a human and inflict massive damage with a single swipe.
Despite their cautious nature and tendency to avoid humans, the front claws of giant anteaters are capable of causing large wounds, and they have been known to injure or kill humans who corner and threaten them seriously.
Giant anteaters killed two hunters in Brazil between 2010 and 2012; in both incidents, the hunters were agitating and wounded cornered animals, and the assaults appeared defensive.
12. Wolverine
| Scientific Name | Gulo gulo |
| Found In | Northern boreal forests and subarctic and alpine tundra of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest concentrations in Northern Canada, Alaska in the United States, the Nordic regions of Europe, and western Russia and Siberia. |
| How can they kill you? | Its powerful jaws, keen claws, and thick hide help them to kill. |
| Kills per year | N/A |
Keep a safe distance from the potentially lethal wolverine. The popularity of the X-Men comics and movies highlighted this 25- to 55-pound weasel’s violent disposition.
Wolverines are carnivores who consume anything that comes close to their sensitive noses: ground squirrels, moose, mountain goats, carcasses buried meters beneath the ice and snow, bird’s eggs, berries, and so on.
The wolverine can take down animals as large as a moose and steal food from bears and wolves because of its powerful jaws, keen claws, and thick hide. They are not afraid of larger predators like wolves or bobcats.
Conclusion
Cute and approachable do not usually go hand in hand. Before you touch that furry friend, think carefully.
Keep in mind that not all threatening animals have fur. Not all animals want to be our friends, whether they have scales, feathers, or smooth skin.
Even those who do are untrustworthy. Some animals contain diseases that no person wishes to come into contact with.
Don’t be panicked if you encounter one of these creatures on your travels. Just take a deep breath and take a step back.
(Last Updated on March 29, 2022 by Sadrish Dabadi)
