20 Animals That Are Deadlier Than Sharks

Deer

Depending on where you live, this may or may not come as a surprise: Deer are the deadliest vertebrate animals in the United States, implicated in the deaths of an average of 440 Americans annually. It’s not because these surprisingly dangerous animals are attacking hunters, or even doing anything out of the ordinary for deer. Most of these deaths, along with 59,000 injuries, are caused by car accidents, which number about 2.1 million a year.

Bees, wasps and hornets

After deer, the number of Americans killed by an individual type of animal drops significantly. Each year, around 72 people are killed by a bee, wasp or hornet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of course, bee stings aren’t lethal events for most people. But for the two million Americans who are allergic, a sting means it’s time to get to the hospital ASAP.

Dogs

It turns out man’s best friend has a dark side. On average, 43 Americans are killed by dogs each year, making them deadlier animals than sharks. Of course, nearly 60 million U.S. households have dogs, so the risk is still pretty low. Sometimes, dogs that bear the brunt of worries about dog attacks, like pit pulls, are misunderstood or mistreated.

Horses

Horses are definitely on the list of animals deadlier than sharks, and unsurprisingly, most of these deaths are from riding injuries. About 50 people a year are killed by horses or in horse-related incidents.

Cows

Shockingly, cattle kill approximately 22 Americans a year. About 75% of these are deliberate attacks, and most victims are farmworkers. While most cows try to avoid conflict, when they feel someone is in their space, mishandling them or coming between them and their food or calves, they can be agitated enough to attack. Blunt force trauma caused by kicking and trampling can be the result.

According to experts at the University of Texas at Tyler, one nervous cow can cause others to become skittish too, and they could stampede. Cows also can’t see behind them, so if you have to approach a cow, treat it like a car and avoid their blind spot!

Mosquitoes

Of all the animals on this list of animals deadlier than sharks, mosquitos are the deadliest by far. We’re talking between 750,000 and 1 million deaths per year worldwide, mostly from malaria and other vector-borne diseases. In the U.S., West Nile Virus is the most prevalent mosquito-borne illness, causing 1,200 neurological illnesses and more than 120 deaths per year.

Hippos

If you’ve never seen those terrifying YouTube videos of hippopotamuses chasing boats, just know that hippos are very aggressive. They are one of the deadliest large land mammals and have very strong jaws and sharp teeth. So yeah, they’re definitely animals deadlier than sharks, killing about 500 people every year in Africa. Hippos can bite you, crush you (a male hippo can weigh over 7,000 pounds and a female nearly 5,000 pounds) or chase you down, because at nearly 20 mph, they run faster than most humans. Yikes!

Fire ants

Fire ants are native to South America and reportedly have been responsible for more than 80 human deaths in the U.S., with an estimated 14 million people being bitten a year. Industrious and able to walk on water, their sting typically isn’t life-threatening, however, in some cases, it can lead to a severe allergic reaction and anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal. According to a recent article published in StatPearls, serious systemic allergic reactions occur in about 2% of fire ant stings.

Jellyfish

Beautiful, graceful jellyfish can be found in shark-infested waters everywhere, and they’re far deadlier, killing up to 40 people in the Philippines alone every year. One particularly dangerous type is the box jellyfish, a group of 50 species that can grow to 10 feet long. They’re covered with barbs that can deliver poison capable of causing cardiac arrest. In 2023, 150 people on a Hawaii beach were stung by box jellyfish in a single day, and a 15-year-old boy was taken to the hospital.

Snakes

Most people keep their distance from snakes, and that’s good, because according to the World Health Organization, between 81,410 and 137,880 people die from snakebite every year. Some of the deadliest snakes are saw-scaled vipers. This genus of eight species of venomous snakes has two particularly nasty species whose bites cause brain hemorrhaging, blood clotting issues, heart palpitations and internal bleeding, which is then followed by acute kidney failure. Saw-scale vipers are aggressive and fearless, and they’re named for the sound their scales make when they’re about to attack.

People

Sharks may be the apex predators of the ocean, but humans top the list of the deadliest animals on Earth. According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime’s Global Study on Homicide, the annual estimated homicide rate fluctuates between 400,000 and 450,000 people every year. That makes us the second deadliest animal, right after mosquitoes.

Snails

The small but deadly freshwater snail kills approximately 280,000 humans every year. These adorable animals might move slowly, but they carry a parasitic disease called schistosomiasis. The disease enters the skin of people who are in contact with contaminated freshwater, and children in developing countries that play or bathe in the unsafe water are particularly vulnerable. It infects more than 250 million people at any one time, mainly in Africa, Asia and South America.

Ascaris roundworms

Ascaris lumbricoides, a species of roundworm, is the most common parasitic worm in humans. It causes an infection called ascariasis, which people get from consuming food or drink contaminated with the worm’s unhatched eggs. The condition is related to poor sanitation, and approximately 1 billion people worldwide are infected. More than 60,000 people die from these worms annually.

Lions

Lions might resemble house cats, but their bite is much more powerful (to say the least). While they prefer to pursue and eat other animals such as zebras, wildebeests and buffalo, they can attack humans if they feel threatened. Lions are responsible for an estimated 200 deaths per year, making them less deadly than hippos, snakes and mosquitos in their native Africa and Asia.

Elephants

Elephants are pretty gentle mammals that don’t mean to kill. However, when they’re confined to small, communal spaces where they don’t belong, or have a barrier to food and water sources, they can become agitated. This can cause them to attack and kill people who may be in their way. These giants cause anywhere from 100 to more than 500 human deaths per year.

Wolves

Human fatalities caused by wolves are rare, but they do have sharp teeth and can run fast, up to 38 mph for short bursts. They mainly attack to protect themselves or their pack. According to researchers at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, wolves were found to have fatally attacked 26 people from 2002 to 2020, and 14 of those attacks were by wolves with rabies.

Assassin bug

The assassin bug, more innocently known as the kissing bug, causes about 10,000 deaths per year. Once thought to bite people only on the face (hence its nickname), these animals deadlier than sharks are actually equal-opportunity biters—they’ll bite anything they can access. More than half of all kissing bugs are infected with a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes a potentially life-threatening infection known as Chagas disease.

Bears, alligators and mountain lions

Bears, alligators and mountain lions are probably the animals that many Americans fear most. After all, the rare bear or mountain lion attack makes headlines for days, and accounts from survivors are often terrifying. But the truth is, each of these species tends to fatally attack just one American each year. That’s the same number of deaths that occur each year in the U.S. as a result of—you guessed it—sharks!

Additional reporting by Juliana LaBianca

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Sources:

• CNN Travel: “Forget sharks and bears—it’s deer that you should worry about hurting you”
• BBC: “The mosquito-bourne virus that’s spreading without a cure”
• Independent: “Terror on Hawaii beaches as more than 150 people are stung by jellyfish in a single day”
• Africa Safaris: “How fast can hippos run?”
• Discover Wildlife: “10 deadliest animals to humans—discover the world’s most lethal creatures”
• CDC: “QuickStats: Number of Deaths from Hornet, Wasp, and Bee Stings Among Males and Females — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2011–2021”
• American Veterinary Medical Association: “Pet population continues to increase while pet spending declines”
• United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime: “Global Study on Homicide”
• USA Today: “Fatal dog attacks are rising—and are hard to predict. But some common themes emerge.”
• University of Texas at Tyler: “Cows are dangerous and that’s no bull!”
• World Animal Foundation: “Bear Attacks Statistics 2025—Global Injuries & Fatalities”