Although all of the known 500 types of cone snails are venomous, the most deadly cone snail is the 'geographic cone snail', which has already caused several human deaths.
Obviously, care should be taken not to pick up a pretty looking cone snail shell up off the beach, as it could still be alive inside. For human victims, the venom can be expected to induce weakness and loss of coordination almost immediately. After which, nausea, numbness, local pain and swelling are frequent symptoms of the venom. Scarily, in extreme cases, the venom is more than capable of inducing paralysis in the victim’s lungs, which then leads to respiratory failure.
There is no antivenin to combat a cone snail's venom at this point in time. Instead, treatment involves doing everything possible to keep the victim alive until the toxins wear off.
13 – Tsetse Fly
Tsetse fly – American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Image author Mr. Tam Nguyen.
The tsetse fly is an insect that can send you into a deep sleep, but unlike Snow White you won't be awoken by a handsome prince.
What is the Tsetse Fly? – The Tsetse fly, sometimes known as the Tik-Tik fly, is a fly which likes to bite. It is widely considered a deadly nuisance in Africa and is known to be extremely dangerous to both humans and animals. What's more is that tsetse flies have been known to lay their pupae in live human beings, under their flesh.Tsetse flies bite animals and humans and feed on their blood.
Tsetse flies are actually considered to be extremely similar to other more docile and calmer flies such as the common housefly. Unfortunately, the similarities generally end in their appearance. The female of this species reproduces, not by laying eggs, but rather by producing live larvae, one at a time. The larvae tend to be laid in cool sheltered areas such as under bushes, large stones or rocks. It then burrows and buries itself almost straight away, and then transforms into a pupa. The actual fly itself can emerge from anything from 22 days, up until 60 days later. When the fly emerges depends largely upon the temperature. The female Tsetse fly will mate just once in her life, and can produce a single larvae every 10 days on average.
Why are tsetse flies so dangerous? The main reason why tsetse flies are considered to be so dangerous, is because they carry a unique sleeping sickness disease known as African trypanosomiasis. This disease perhaps doesn’t sound too serious, and certainly not life threatening, However, this couldn’t be any farther from the truth. When the fly bites its victim, a deadly parasite that it carries, enters the victim’s bloodstream, and attacks the central nervous system. In the early stages of the disease, many victims often suffer extremely high fevers, headaches, joint pain, weakness, fatigue, itching, weight loss, and severe nausea. As the fever progresses, things then get even worse, as the victims will often lose concentration and basic motor skills, and will simply become indifferent to their surroundings.
In a rather cruel twist of irony, victims of the 'sleeping' sickness disease, will actually find it very difficult to go to sleep at night. In its very advanced stages, the disease can cause victims to suffer from severe seizures and to display disturbing maniacal behaviour. The disease finishes its victims off by causing them to fall into spells of excessively deep sleep, before finally slipping into a coma, and than unfortunately death.
This is a very common disease in Africa, and it affects an estimated 300,000 people every single year. Unfortunately, many of these people often die because they aren’t even correctly diagnosed with the disease from the start. Scientists and experts in Africa are however, in the process of developing vaccines and antibodies to help combat the effects of this terrible disease transmitted from tsetse flies, and the early results are looking extremely promising indeed.
14 – Hyena
Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in the Abuko National Reserve in The Gambia. Author: Ikiwaner.
In popular culture, hyenas are sometimes given the reputation of a cowardly trickster―the popular Disney film The Lion King portrayed them as goofy, cowardly scavengers who cringe when adult lions threaten them and are only dangerous in huge packs. The truth about hyenas is a lot less goofy however - and a lot more dangerous.
There are four different species of hyena, which are all part of the family Hyaenidae: spotted hyena, striped hyena, brown hyena and aardwolf. The most well-known hyena is the spotted hyena, which is also the most social of all hyena species. While brown, striped and aardwolf hyenas tend to stick to themselves unless they are mating, spotted hyenas travel (and kill) in packs.
Of these four species, there are two distinct hyena groups: those which are called 'dog-like' hyenas and those which are considered as 'bone-crushing' hyenas. Three of the hyena species are considered as 'bone crushing' hyenas, with only one species with a ‘dog-like’ lineage remaining - the aardwolf.
The size, strength and dietary habits of a hyena will depend on their species. The largest and most physically powerful hyena species is the spotted hyena, which is primarily a hunter; the striped hyena typically scavenges, and may even supplement its diet with fruits; the aardwolf’s diet mainly consists of termites, insects and vegetation and the brown hyena scavenges, can take down zebra, and also eats fruits and insects.
Despite their reputation as cowardly scavengers who run away at the first sign of a fight, most hyena species are considered dangerous to people. The only species of hyena which is considered non-threatening to humans is the dog-like aardwolf, which is often considered helpful among farmers because it eats termites and other crop-damaging insects. The brown hyena may or may not be harmful to people, but it is so rarely encountered that there are no known attacks on people by this species.
Striped hyenas have been known to attack and kill people, although their human kill rate is nothing compared to the most dangerous type of hyena: the spotted hyena.
A spotted hyena has a bite force of 1100 PSI - strong enough to break through the bones of an elephant and chew them up enough to easily digest them. Their bite is among the strongest in the animal kingdom, rivalled only by gorillas, hippos and alligators/crocodiles.
Spotted hyenas have been known to attack and kill people, particularly at night - and most often during the hot season, when people sleep outside due to the heat or because of illness. In the early 20th century, reports of spotted hyenas killing people who had been taken ill from African sleeping sickness were rampant; packs of hyenas were even known to wait outside of villager's huts, waiting to attack when they opened their doors.
Hyena attacks have not just occurred in the past: the most recent widespread attack by spotted hyenas occurred in 2004, when a reported 35 people in Mozambique were killed in just one year by the spotted hyena.
15 – Carpet Viper
Saw-scaled viper. Image author: Krishna Khan Amravati.
Carpet vipers, identified scientifically as Echis and also known as saw scaled vipers, are found in dry areas. They are common in the deserts and dry areas of Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and the Middle East. The common name ‘carpet viper’ is not a single snake species, but is composed of a total of 8 recognized species. Some of these species, when taken alone, are already recognized as top contributors to snake bite fatalities around the world.
These snakes are not monstrously huge. In fact, the largest known carpet viper is just below 3 feet in length. The smallest species among these snakes grows to just a foot long. What