Leopard Seals, named after their fine spotted coats, tend to live on their own, only ever pairing up during mating season. Just like their feline namesake, Leopard Seals are formidable hunters, quick and agile in the water, they are the only seal to feed on other seals. This seal is known to be the most ferocious of all seals and it’s long sharp teeth and crushing jaws support this. They are powerful mammals with excellent sight and smell allowing them to sneak up and manoeuvre in shallower waters really well. Other Antarctic seals like the Elephant seal, tend to be deep water hunters and can dive to depths of hundreds of meters in search of food.

Because the Leopard Seal is such a fierce hunter its only real predator is the Orca (Killer Whale) and a few other large sharks. The favourite meal of the Leopard Seal is the penguin, it lies in wait for them to jump in the water from coastal islands and small rocks, at which point he grabs their little legs and shakes them to death. Other than penguins, squid, sea birds and other seals are commonly on the menu, with krill for appetizer and crunchy crustaceans for desert!

Leopard Seals are quite large mammals, around 3 meters long, only the Elephant Seal grows bigger. They have evolved strong front flippers, quite similar to Sea Lions making them agile, aiding them in snooping around as they are quite curious creatures. You can swim with them, but they are perfectly capable of killing a human, although it has only ever happened once.

For more pictures of seals and facts about many different creatures visit our Flickr Photo Gallery.

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Look out killer moose!

10. Lion - Quite rightly these majestic beasts are feared the world over. Speed, strength, stealth and team work give these guys the ability to take on any animal on land, from Giraffes, Buffalo and Elephants to us humans. Humans are usually targeted because other food sources are scarce and they simply get hungry and desperate. They wander into small settlements day or night and hunt humans as a last resort. This says a lot about how their habitat and environment has changed and how they have had to adapt to stay alive. Even though lions seem like very lazy animals, sleeping about 20 hours a day, they are extremely alert and can spin into action in seconds. Rather than look for trouble lions avoid confrontation as it could lead to injury.

Hunting Method: protractile claws and powerful jaws Location: Africa, Asia Human Fatalities: about 10 per year Kill Rating: Could do Better

9. Bears - As can be seen in bears vital statistics they come in all shapes and sizes, and all of them have regular encounters with humans. Especially the North American Black and Brown bears which are often found eating out of people’s garbage and strolling into back gardens. As you can imagine humans try to get in the way or approach and chase away the bears but this is not always a good idea. Especially with a big hungry bear, although they will only attack as a last resort, most of the time they will try to run away.

Hunting Method: teeth and power Location: America, Europe, Asia Human Fatalities: about 10 per year Kill Rating: Ten Too Many

8. Crocodile – These prehistoric dinosaurs are so old they command a lot of respect. They have barely evolved in millions of years. Why? Because they are the perfect example of force and stealth. Power and a sneaky cunning makes these crazy crocodiles very dangerous, they have been known to attempt attacks on elephants drinking at watering holes. Crocodiles can’t chew because their teeth aren’t designed to clamp down on one another. Instead they try to rip chunks off and swallow it whole. One method is to employ the “Death Roll”, they chomp on the victim and spin laterally until a piece of meat comes free, crazy crocs try to do this underwater so they can spin faster and drown prey. Here you can see a crocodile leaping out of the water and grabbing an elephant trunk.

Hunting Method: jaw power and stealth Location: Africa, Americas, Asia, Australia Human Fatalities: 20 per year Kill Rating: You’ll Survive

7. Jelly Fish - As you may have read on our ‘most Venomous list‘ the jellyfish is quite a sneaky predator. Many different species exist of this sea creature, the most popular being the Box Jellyfish or ‘Sea Wasp’ because of the extremely lethal sting it produces. The most dangerous jellyfish are mainly found around Australian waters, and this is also where the most deaths occur. Obviously people try to avoid jellies if they can but most of the time they are impossible to see until it is too late. Once stung victims may have only minutes to live before they go into shock and die of heart failure. Heed those no swimming warnings!

Hunting Method: stinging tentacles Location: All the world’s Oceans Human Fatalities: around 50 per year Kill Rating: Deadly

Box Jelly Fish or Sea Wasp

6. Bee - This is another unsurprising member on the list. The plain old ordinary honey bee is, in fact, an amazing insect. Not only does it produce that lovely honey we all spread on our sandwiches but they are also masters of pollination and architects of the highest order. Bees have a very nasty sting though, this in itself won’t kill you but many people are allergic to the toxins or the bacteria from a resulting infection. The Africanized, or Killer Bee, is actually an experiment gone wrong. The Frankenstein of the animal world is a hybrid of the European Honey Bee and the African Bee which managed to escape and develop a highly defensive attitude.

Hunting Method: stinger Location: Everywhere except Antarctica Human Fatalities: about 50 per year Kill Rating: You’ll survive

Honey Bee with Pollen

5. Buffalo - More specifically the Cape Buffalo. This guy, like many of the killer creatures on this list, is found on the continent of Africa. They have a reputation for having bad mood swings and can charge indiscriminately without warning or reason. If it doesn’t like the look of you it can do nasty things. It is considered the most dangerous animal to hunt as they always travel in herds and are extremely fast for large animals, they can run almost 60 km/h! Buffalo don’t normally run from threats, they stand and fight together, they will mob and stampede any predators. They can stand their ground against a pride of lions, so humans are easy prey if you get in the way.

Hunting Method: strength, speed and hard horns Location: Africa Human Fatalities: 100 – 200 per year Kill Rating: High

Cape Buffalo

4. Elephant – The elephant is very intelligent – the largest terrestrial mammal on earth and as such it is very dangerous. It has no natural predators and so can sense when it is under threat. It has been known that tigers and lions have tried to bring down an Elephant but usually that is because they are frail or still young. Most accidents, as with so many other human vs. animal encounters, occur when we encroach on their habitat. Villagers build settlements and farm on the territory that used to belong to these great beasts. The bulls are the largest, some weighing in at a whopping 10,000 kilograms, and when they are in musth they can get extremely aggressive and unpredictable. It is the world’s largest land mammal, and likes to show it! They have been known to have killed adult Rhino’s with completely unprovoked attacks, so any human getting in the way is no problem. Squish!

Hunting Method: power and size Location: Africa and Asia Human Fatalities: about 200 per year Kill Rating: Severe

3. Hippopotamus – these cute, clumsy looking creatures are actually extremely dangerous. They are fast and weigh about 2000 kilos. Don’t be fooled by those cute little twiddly ears, these guys are the third largest land mammal on earth after the Elephant and White Rhino. The hippo may appear to be fat, lazy and friendly but it is a very vicious, stealthy and agile mammal. It turns over boats, runs over people, or squashes them if it feels that you are a threat or shuffle into its territory. Most of the time however, these guys are happy mellowing in the water and mud, in fact they can’t actually swim but run along and bounce off the bottom of the river bed.

Hunting Method: power and bite force Location: Africa Human Fatalities: about 200 per year Kill Rating: Extreme

2. Snakes  - There are two main contenders here, the Black Mamba of Africa and the Russell’s Pit Viper of India. Both live in densely human populated habitats where there is little education, medicine and proper shelter to protect themselves from bites. Named after the colour of the inside of its mouth, the Black Mamba is the largest and fastest venomous snake in Africa at up to 4.5 meters and speeds of 5 meters per second. It has huge sacks of neurotoxic venom and it’s fangs are like hypodermic needles. The Russell’s Pit Viper kills more humans than any other snake on the planet. it is lively, aggressive and actively hunts out its warm-blooded prey. Its favourite happens to be a nice juicy rat, and rats also happen to be very attracted to humans too, at least to all the food they provide, so it is no coincidence that humans are targeted while hunting for rats.

Hunting Method: fangs and venom Location: Africa and India Human Fatalities: about 50,000-100,000 per year Kill Rating: Crazy

1. Mosquito – these crazy dudes are our number one predator, killing over 1 million human beings per year and infecting a further 700 million with diseases like malaria, yellow fever and dengue fever. Obviously the parasites, viruses and bacteria that the mosquitoes carry are the real killer, but that is like saying guns kill people, not the shooter. Mosquitoes of the killer variety are mostly found in Africa, Asia and South America.

Hunting Method: stinger Location: Africa, Asia, South America Human Fatalities: over 1 million per year Kill Rating: Off the Scale!

Beware the mosquito

Honourable Mentions – These dangerous creatures are also worthy of being included in this article as they have killed many humans. Although, some of this bunch are only here because they are indirect killers or kill as a result of human handling, like horses, causing occasional accidents.

Dog, Horse, Elk, Moose, Deer, Cougar (Puma, Mountain Lion), Tiger, Shark, Scorpion, Spider.

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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.

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Despite Matamata being a place in New Zealand, they can actually only be found in the drainage basins of the Amazon and Orinoco river systems of South America. Depending on which river system they are from they will have either a lighter or darker pigmentation to the shell and neck. With a long thin pointy nose extending from its snout, a long wide flat neck, and head that looks like a leaf with warts, this is certainly one ugly looking beast. However, like all things that evolve to be ugly, it is ugly for good reason.

You see, one of the amazing abilities of the Matamata is the way it camouflages its way into its surroundings. Having a faded brown and dark grey colour and appearance of bark and leaves for a shell, the head and neck having a rocky resemblance, it feels right at home in the shallow marshy and muddy edges of river beds and swamps. Not only do they inhabit similar locations, but the distinct sets of scales protruding from the body gives the frequent comparison to a small croc’ or ‘gator.

The Matamata is one of the largest turtles and lives almost exclusively in shallow waters where it can poke its nostrils above the surface like a snorkel so it can breathe and lay motionless waiting for prey to pass by.  The Matamata pounces when a toad, fish or little invertebrate tries to sneak past the ultra sensitive flaps of skin that hang from under the neck and head. The matamata can’t chew its prey because of the unique way the jaws are constructed. Instead it waits for the precise moment and lunges at the target quickly opening its gaping wide mouth to suck in its prey rather like a large fish. The matamata is the only turtle known to feed in this manner.

Despite its bizarre demeanor it really is quite a pleasant harmless creature. Should you ever encounter one then be sure to give it a big smile.

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