What is the most dangerous animal in the world?
The mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world. By spreading diseases such as malaria and dengue, mosquitoes cause hundreds of thousands of human deaths every year.
Only female mosquitoes bite, because they need blood to produce eggs. When they bite, they can pass on parasites and viruses. Malaria alone kills about 600,000 people a year in recent World Health Organization estimates, most of them young children in Africa.
Mosquitoes also spread dengue, yellow fever, Zika and West Nile virus. Bed nets, insect repellent, removing standing water and new vaccines help reduce the risk.
Other dangerous animals
After mosquitoes, humans themselves cause the most human deaths. Snakes kill tens of thousands of people each year. Large animals such as sharks, lions and crocodiles are feared, but sharks cause only a handful of deaths a year worldwide.
Scientists are testing new ways to control mosquitoes, such as releasing mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria, which reduce their ability to spread viruses like dengue.
Did You Know?
Not all mosquitoes spread disease. Of the more than 3,500 species, only a few hundred bite humans, and only some of those carry dangerous diseases.