Ranked: Top 10 Deadliest Animals for Humans

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8 seconds ago

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June 2, 2024 Graphics/Design:

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Ranked: Top 10 Deadliest Animals for Humans

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

While running into wild animals in a forest can seem like the worst situation for humans, there are plenty of other animals that are far deadlier than large predators.

We rank the top 10 deadliest animals by the number of people killed per year. Data for this visualization and article is sourced from BBC Science Focus.

Spreaders of Diseases are Deadliest for Humans

Mosquitoes, of course, are the reigning champions on the toll they take on humans. Every year they kill more than 700,000 people through a multitude of deadly diseases—dengue, yellow fever, and malaria.

By some estimates, mosquitoes are responsible for the deaths of half of all the humans that have ever lived.

RankAnimalHumans Killed Annually 1🦟 Mosquitoes*725,000 2👫 Humans**400,000 3🐍 Snakes138,000 4🐕 Dogs*59,000 5🐜 Assassin Bugs*10,000 6🦂 Scorpions3,300 7🐊 Crocodiles1,000 8🐘 Elephants600 9🦛 Hippos500 10🦁 Lions200
Note: *Spreads diseases. **Homicides only.

Meanwhile, humans are (almost) their own worst enemies. Every year, nearly 400,000 homicides take place, making humans the second-deadliest animal for other human beings. And this doesn’t account for all the human-caused accidents that result in fatalities.

At fourth place, dogs may be our best friends, but as a carrier of the deadly rabies virus, they end up fourth on the list of top 10 deadliest animals.

Rounding out the top five are assassin bugs, which spread the parasite that causes Chagas disease, a condition that can go untreated for years and can result in serious complications that make it life-threatening.

Large mammals, including lions, hippos, and elephants round out the top 10. Interestingly, bears kill around one person a year on average and wouldn’t be anywhere close to making this list of the deadliest animals.

What Causes Preventable Child Deaths?

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May 5, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

What Causes Preventable Child Deaths?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on Apple or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

One of the often-overlooked successes of the modern era is the light-speed innovation in healthcare, easily seen in improvements in life expectancy.

The drop in infant mortality is another example. In 1990, more than 12 million preventable child deaths occurred. Three decades later, that number has more than halved. Nevertheless, despite gains, there are still challenges left to overcome.

We visualize leading causes of death in 2022 for children under the age of five according to a UNICEF report, published March 2024.

Ranked: The Causes of Death for Children Under Five

Globally, 4.9 million children under the age of five died in 2022.

RankCause% of Global Under-Five
Deaths in 2022 1Prematurity18% 2Pneumonia14% 3Birth Asphyxia12% 4Malaria9% 5Diarrhea9% 6Congenital Anomalies8% 7Injuries5% 8Sepsis3% 9Tuberculosis3% N/AOther19%
Figures are rounded.
Nearly one-in-five of all deaths occurred because the baby was born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy were completed.

However there’s a huge caveat to this particular cause of death.

In low income countries, where health infrastructure is suboptimal, half of the babies born two months early do not survive. For the same preterm babies in high income countries, nearly all survive. This indicates how much neonatal support (access to warmth, breastfeeding, and basic infections care) can reduce infant mortality.

Pneumonia is another significant cause of under-five deaths. It’s an acute respiratory infection, and is extremely contagious: through air, fluids, and contaminated surfaces. Exposure to air pollution significantly increases the risk of developing pneumonia.

However, pneumonia caused by bacteria is also extremely treatable through low-cost antibiotics, and preventable through the pneumococcal (PCV) vaccine.

Put together, preterm births and pneumonia cause nearly one-in-three preventable child deaths.