#10 World’s Scariest Animal: Cape Buffalo
Cape buffalo is the largest and most powerful buffalos in Africa. While these animals only stand about 55-inches tall and have very short legs, they are terrifying animals because of their horns. These animals prefer to eat woody plants, and their special incisors let them eat plants that are often too tough for other animals to digest. When Cape buffalo feel the least bit cornered or like they are in danger, they become raging maniacs. They will take out anything in their paths with their horns. They will quickly fight to protect themselves or nearby calves even if they are not their own. Cape buffalo tend to live in herds containing up to 450 cows. One interesting fact is that they seem to vote on the direction they will next travel. While resting, they lay on the ground in the direction that they think the herd should go next. Then, when they get done chewing their cud, the direction that most animals are lying in will be how the herd moves. Therefore, if you encounter a herd, you may want to move in a different direction to avoid these terrifying animals.
#9 World’s Scariest Animal: Black Rhinoceroses
Both black and white rhinoceroses are gray, but the black rhinoceros have a pointed upper lip while the white one has a square lip. Before you get close enough to see, except through binoculars, you may want to consider that black rhinoceroses are very unpredictable, making them a very terrifying animal. Like Cape buffalo, these animals have massive horns that they use as defensive weapons. While both males and females have horns, the male is usually the longest. Rhino horns can grow up to 3 inches per year and get to be over 5-feet long. Females are most apt to use their horns to protect their young while males are most likely to use theirs whenever they feel aggressive.
# 8 World’s Scariest Animal: Hippopotamuses
You may wonder if hippopotamuses are enormous teddy bears, but nothing could be further from the truth. Hippos are the third-largest living mammal, and they have been known to use their weight to dump boats and do other aggressive acts. Furthermore, hippopotamuses have enormous teeth. Their teeth grow throughout their lifetime and can be up to 20-inches long. These animals can run up to 20 miles per hour to catch their prey. Once they do, they use their large teeth to kill and eat it.
#7 World’s Scariest Animal: Cassowaries
Cassowaries are the second largest bird on earth, behind the ostrich. They use their size to be very aggressive. Ostriches, chickens, and cassowaries are the only birds with scientific evidence of a bird killing a human. Cassowaries often use their strong legs as weapons. They can kick forward and backward. They also use their heads to head butt and their large beaks to peck a person. Cassowaries can also jump over crouched people so they can attack them from the front and the back. Science recognizes three different species of Cassowaries, all of them are from the Northeastern Australia islands. The dwarf Cassowaries is the smallest, however, the orange-throated Cassowaries is among the largest standing at nearly 5 feet tall. However the largest of all is the Southern Cassowaries which reach a staggering 5 foot 6 inches tall. These massive beasts are aggressive and dangerous!
#6 World’s Scariest Animal: Wolverines
While wolverines usually weigh less than 40 pounds, you will not want to get into a fight with one. First, they are likely to throw a hissy fit, complete with their huge claws coming out at you. They will make you think they are much bigger as they stand on their back legs. If that does not work, expect the wolverine, which is one of the scariest animals in the world, to start attacking you with its claws. They are quite capable of using them to tear the skin off your body. Then, they will eat you with their sharp teeth. While they tend to leave humans alone, they have killed deer, bears, and other mammals much larger than themselves without showing any signs of fear.
#5 World’s Scariest Animal: Belcher’s Sea Snake
Found primarily in the Indian Ocean, Belcher’s sea snake is the most dangerous in the world. This snake that seldom grows to be over 3.3-feet long has a slender body, a yellow base, and green crossbands. Scientists feel that this snake that can stay underwater for up to 8 hours could kill up to 1,800 people with a single bite if it had a way to spread its venom. If you get bitten by one, you have about 30 minutes to receive antivenom, or you will die. The likelihood of getting bitten, however, is low because this snake is usually timid.
#4 World’s Scariest Animal: Stonefish
Stonefish live among the reefs off Australia’s coast. They have 13 spines along their back. Each spine carries venom that can kill most animals, humans included. These fish are the most venomous in the world. These fish can survive on beaches for up to 24 hours, making it more likely that you would step on one. This fish is extremely dangerous because it looks like a stone. Therefore, it can easily be encountered before an animal realizes what they are doing.
#3 World’s Scariest Animal: Golden Poisonous Dart Frog
The golden poison dart frog may not look like the world’s most terrifying animal, but this bright yellow frog has enough venom in its body to kill 10 adults. Its venom is so deadly that the indigenous people of Colombia tip their arrows and blowguns with it before using them. Scientists are unsure how the golden poisonous dart frog gets its venom. Scientific studies show that if the frog does not eat its usual diet of Columbian plants and insects, it does not have venom. While an encounter with this animal can be terrifying, scientists have also found it very useful.
#2 World’s Scariest Animal: Blue-ringed Octopus
While most octopuses are content to squirt ink at you if they feel threatened, that is not true of the blue-ringed octopus. Instead, they spew poisonous venom at you. This octopus that lives in the waters of Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and India can be easily identified because of the blue rings that appear on its body whenever it feels threatened. Scientists believe that the poison is strong enough to kill up to 24 adults in minutes. The venom in this animal is more potent than that of any land mammal. The bite of a blue-ring octopus is so slight that it would be hard to notice if a person steps on one accidentally. But within 5 to 10 minutes, symptoms will start to show which can include: numbness, progressive muscular weakness, tingling sensations, difficulty breathing and swallowing, nausea, vomiting, and difficulty speaking. These is no current antidote for the venom, so a person must ride out whatever symptoms arise, which usually start to fade in 15 hours. There’s only 3 recorded deaths by the blue-ring octopus venom ever, and on average, about 3 people a year are bitten by one.
#1 World’s Scariest Animal: Nile Crocodile
All species of crocodiles attack approximately 1,000 worldwide annually, and about 40% of those attacks are fatal. The most aggressive crocodile is the Nile crocodile, which can be found throughout Africa. The Nile crocodile is afraid of nothing, and it is the second-largest crocodile in the world. Nile crocodiles can be as long as a giraffe is tall. It is the top predator in Africa’s rivers, and they have the world’s strongest bite. Crocodiles hold their prey underwater to drown them. Then, they use their 64 teeth to turn their victim repeatedly until pieces of the flesh come off. These animals work in unison to dismantle their prey’s body quickly.
Summary of the Top 10 Scariest Animals in the World
Here’s a reminder of how scary animals can be with a summary of the 10 scariest:
Up Next…
9 Smallest Reptiles in the World Meet the smallest reptiles in on Earth in this interesting article.Amazing! 12 Types of Hybrid Animals That Actually Exist Did you know that there are a variety of fascinating hybrid animals that will make your jaw drop? Read on to discover them.Top 10 Weirdest Animals in The World Some animals on our planet are just plain weird! Check out this article to acquaint yourself with 10 of the weirdest in existence.
