Lions and tigers and bears? Oh my, they’re not even close to being the biggest threats you might face during your travels in the great outdoors.
According to Statista (www.Statista.com), looking at the numbers from 2018 shows that the most human deaths weren’t from the critters we seem to fear the most.
Lions accounted for 22 deaths, wolves 10, and sharks just 6. Bears didn’t even make the list. There is reason to fear crocodiles (1,000 deaths) and poisonous snakes (100,000). What about the myth of the friendly herbivores? Busted. Elephants and hippos each accounted for 500 deaths that year. Man’s best friend? Think again. Dogs tallied 35,000 deaths. Our fellow man? Nope. We killed each other 437,000 times.
The biggest threats seem to come from among the smallest critters. The real buzz surrounds the mosquito, carrier of malaria and several other diseases. These biting insects accounted for a chart-topping 750,000 deaths in 2018.
STEFAN MALLOCH / DREAMSTIME.COM
