What would you say is the most dangerous mammal? Which one killed the most
humans? If you don't know any better you probably will say lion or tiger.
But actually they don't kill that many humans compared to nasty beasts like
Hippopotamuses:
Despite the popular image of the animal being easygoing and
peaceful, the hippopotamus is actually one of the most dangerous animals in
Africa, and is said to account for more human deaths than any other African
mammal. This is not because they are more aggressive than other African mammals
but rather because they are highly territorial and their space often conflicts
with that of farmers and tourists. In other words, the hippos are protecting
their own territory and do not hunt humans.
Also on Staff Report is a nice description of the
Hippos' behavior:
The hippo, found today throughout sub-Saharan Africa, is considered
by many experts, explorers and Africans to be the most dangerous animal in
Africa (not counting the mosquito). Crocodiles and cape buffaloes are badasses,
too, but nobody seems to have kept an actual body count for any of these
species and they don't have belts to notch. They've all killed way more people
than Africa's lions have. (A few rogue tigers have killed a lot of people too,
but they live in India, not Africa.) The hippo is extremely aggressive,
unpredictable and unafraid of humans, upsetting boats sometimes without
provocation and chomping the occupants with its huge canine teeth and sharp
incisors.
And another really bad man killer kills over 20,000 people every year only
in the U.S. But this is not done by a fierce monster, but by cute, little
Bambi. Read more about the dangerous deers on CNN.com
