Not only is Australia a great tourist attraction, but many people from around the world look at it as a place to emigrate to in order to experience a better life. The wide open spaces, a warm climate, great beaches and some amazing natural wonders, all make it sound like the place to move to. However, it should also come with a health warning. Australia is home to more dangerous and venomous creatures than almost anywhere else on the planet. It does in fact, come third after Brazil with 79 such species and the winner, Mexico with 80 dangerous species. Australia’s total is 66.
However, if we count the most venomous and deadly creatures, then Australia jumps to the top of the list. The list covers species that live on the ground, swim in the water and one or two which fly. The most dangerous include the box jellyfish, funnel web spiders, stonefish and plenty of snakes including the inland taipan snake. To illustrate its dangers, there is a family of snakes called the Elapidae. Out of the 300 varieties of these snakes, Australia contains 60 of them. And you can find them on the ground and in water. They include the coral snake and the mamba.
There are of course larger creatures which most people recognise as dangerous such as sharks. In addition, Australia is home to what is considered to be the world’s deadliest bird. These are cassowaries which have dagger-like nails on two of their toes and these can do a lot of damage. There is another side to these dire warnings. In real life, the deaths of humans from such creatures are relatively small. Official figures say that from 2000 to 2013, 41,000 people were hospitalised due to being stung or bitten. However, only 64 deaths were recorded. I still think this is not a number to be ignored.
John Pullen 