The deadliest animal in Australia over the past 20 years revealed
Newly released data from the National Coronial Information System has revealed which animals are involved in the most human deaths in Australia.
Read on to see what animals you really need to keep an eye on.
11. Sheep and goats
Sheep and goats are to blame for a small handful of deaths over the last decades, but enough to be tracked by the data.
Between 2001 and 2021, sheep and goats were found to have caused 11 deaths - about one every two years!
10. Cats
Although widely blamed for dispatching birds and other native wildlife, cats are hardly notorious for killing humans.
That being said, the coronial data shows that 12 people's deaths have been attributed to cats.
9. Other marsupials
Wombats and other marsupials have 13 human fatalities to their name.
8. Crocodiles
Despite their fearsome reputation, crocodiles were only the 8th most deadly animal in the last 20 years.
There were 25 crocodile-related deaths in Australia from 2001-2021, including 17 in the Northern Territory and seven in Queensland.
Of those deaths, nine occurred while people were swimming.
7. Sharks
Sharks are another so-called apex predator in Australian waters, but only 39 people died from shark attacks in that period.
More than 56 per cent of those attacks happened while people were swimming, surfing or boogie boarding.
6. Bees
There were 45 deaths involving bees in that time, with 20 of them taking place in Western Australia.
5. Snakes
Snakes were involved in 50 deaths over the 20 years.
Queensland had the most snake-related deaths with 18 fatalities.
4. Kangaroos
Just beating out snakes, Kangaroos were involved in 53 deaths, all involving vehicles.
Motorcyclists were involved in half of these deaths, with 90 per cent of kangaroo fatalities taking place on public roads.
3. Dogs
Man's best friend or statistically dangerous killers?
Dogs contributed to 82 deaths from 2001-2021.
People died from dog bites 38 times, and died from falls involving a dog 35 times.
Most of the deaths involved people older than 65.
Terriers, bullmastiffs and rottweilers were also flagged as potentially lethal biting threats.
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