In this edition of our regular photo facts we take a look at the lovely Leopard Seal. As it’s the festive period and there is heaps of snow and ice and cold weather around it seems appropriate to head down to Antarctica and meet our nimble friends.
Following our 10 Most Venomous Animals post last month, we are going to look at which of the world’s animals are most dangerous to human beings! You will be surprised that it’s not always the scariest or most poisonous animal that is our biggest killer! In this Top 10… list we will explore the world’s biggest animal threats towards us humans. It goes without saying that humans kill the most humans, we are our own biggest enemy. However, we also have diseases, wars and man-made objects to slow down human domination a little. Animals are helping us out too! What follows are the top 10 most dangerous human killing animals on earth!
Look out killer moose!
Today’s photo fact is about the African Wild Dog which, as its name suggests, only occurs in Africa. It is an endangered species, with under 6000 left.
Wild dogs can’t kill animals in the same way as the big cats. Their front legs aren’t as strong and their claws are blunt as they don’t retract like on a cat. Therefore they can’t grab an animal to deliver a killer bite in the neck. Instead dogs tend to chase their victim to exhaustion when they can kill them more easily. With smaller prey they will grab it and vigorously shake it side to side, usually breaking the animal’s neck or back.
For more carnivores and facts, visit our Carnivores gallery on Flickr.
This little critter has been scientifically renamed more times than a confused schizophrenic and at first sight looks to have more in common with an alligator than a turtle. Mata Mata actually means ‘kill, kill’ in Spanish, which is concerning for those of you who keep them as pets. These guys are not a vegetarian’s favorite as they are serious carnivores; they turn their pointy nose up at anything green unless it croaks.
