*Dangerous Animals in the World :-* 6. *Sydney Funnel-Web Spider* Some spiders flaunt their lethality with flashy colors or alien-like appendages, but few are as capable of following through on that promise as the glossy black Sydney Funnel-Web Spider. A funnel-web’s bite is a serious cause for alarm: Fatality among adults can occur within 30 minutes, since the atraxotoxin in their venom causes the human nervous system to short out. (Interestingly, their venom is not particularly bothersome to non-primate mammals, including household pets.) What makes funnel-webs especially dangerous is their proximity to humans, and the natural behavior that drives them to seek shelter and build webs in sheltered burrows—like shoes and lawn ornaments. Aggressive to begin with, and prone to wandering, funnel-webs’ fangs can pierce a human fingernail or even a shoe, which they will do repeatedly when threatened. The bite of a funnel-web is so fearsome that doctors recommend seeking antivenom after tangoing with any black spider in the funnel-web family, just in case. *Where to find them*: The eastern and southern coasts of mainland Australia, plus Tasmania 5. *Stonefish* The most venomous fish known to humans is an easy one to miss—which is exactly what it wants. Stonefish, after all, are named for their visual similarity to rocks, sitting perfectly still and blending right into the seabed where an unsuspecting foot can easily step down on their dorsal fins, primed and ready with potent neurotoxins. The unluckiest clodhoppers will step hard, applying more pressure and increasing the amount of venom that gets injected; they may also trigger the stonefish’s secondary defense mechanism known as a lachrymal saber, which has been likened to a switchblade of the face. Fatality from stonefish venom can occur within an hour, so it’s recommended to seek antivenom immediately, applying water heated to over 113 °F (45 °C) in the meantime to denature the venom. Most importantly, watch where you step. *Where to find them*: Coastal Indo-Pacific Ocean, The Red Sea, and the Great Barrier Reef 4. *Saltwater Crocodile* Florida's alligators may be scary, but they have nothing on their cousin, the fearsome crocodile, which is more short-tempered, easily provoked, and aggressive toward anything that crosses its path. Of all the species in the world, the largest—and most dangerous—is the saltwater crocodile. These ferocious killers can grow up to 23 feet in length, weigh more than a ton, and are known to kill hundreds each year, with crocodiles as a whole responsible for more human fatalities annually than sharks. Saltwater crocodiles are especially dangerous as they’re excellent swimmers in both salt and freshwater (yes, their name is confusing), and can strike quickly with a bite delivering 3,700 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure, rivaling that of the T. Rex. If that’s not enough to scare you, put it in perspective: Humans chomp into a well-done steak at around 200 psi, a mere five percent of the strength of a saltie's jaw. *Where to find them*: The Indo-Pacific region ranging from parts of India and Vietnam, all the way to northern Australia 3. *Tsetse Fly* Often regarded as the world’s most dangerous fly, the tsetse fly—a small speck of insect that measures between 8 to 17 mm, or about the same size as the average house fly—is commonly found in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially throughout countries in the center of the continent. While the flies themselves are nasty bloodsucking bugs that usually feed during the peak warm hours, their true terror lies in the protozoan parasites they spread known as Trypanosomes. These microscopic pathogens are the causative agent of African Sleeping Sickness, a disease marked by neurological and meningoencephalitic symptoms including behavioral changes, poor coordination, as well as the disturbances in sleeping cycles that give the illness its name. If untreated, the condition can be fatal. While there are no vaccines or medications available to prevent infection, methods of protection include wearing neutral-colored clothing (the tsetse fly is attracted to bright and dark colors, especially blue), avoiding bushes during the day, and using permethrin-treated gear in more remote areas. *Where to find them*: The Sudans, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola. 2. *Mosquito* Clocking in at just three millimeters at their smallest, the common mosquito, even tinier than the tsetse fly, ranks as the second most dangerous. Our reasoning: the sheer number of deaths each year, caused by various pathogens that several species of mosquitos (of the more than 3,000 in the world) carry to humans. The irritating insects—primarily those from the genera Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex—are the primary vectors of diseases like malaria, Chikungunya, encephalitis, elephantiasis, yellow fever, dengue fever, West Nile virus, and the Zika virus, which collectively afflict an estimated 700 million and kill roughly 725,000 people each year. As the World Health Organization notes, more than half of the human population is currently at risk from mosquito-borne diseases. Given that the pests are attracted to our body temperatures and the CO2 we exhale, our best tools to prevent infection lie in the usage of insect repellents high in active ingredients like DEET and picaridin. *Where to find them:* Every region on the planet except Antarctica 1. *Humans* Surprised? After all, we’re animals too, and since we’ve been killing each other for 10,000 years, with the total deaths from war alone estimated at between 150 million and 1 billion (and that was a decade ago), it’s a no-brainer that we top the list. Though human beings are said to be living in the most peaceful period now than at any other time in our history, we still assault each other with incredibly high rates of senseless brutality, from gun violence to terrorist attacks around the globe. We're dangerous to other animals, too—think global warming, the destruction of forests and coral reefs, and overtourism. Given the threat we pose to countless other creatures—and the fact that we often act irrationally and have the capacity to annihilate our entire planet with a host of horrifying weapons like nuclear devices and genetically-modified superbugs— *we are squarely atop the list as the most dangerous animal in the world.*