Environment Travel

Be careful of while traveling in Australia – Scary Animals

Written by Lis Meitner

The untamed wilderness of Australia is home to a surprising number of vicious creatures. In fact, a whopping number of animals known to be extremely dangerous to humans live in Australia.  Some may be put off by this fact, while others will find it fascinating. Either way, the wonderful diversity of wildlife makes Australia an amazing place to visit. So go ahead and read which animals are the scariest in Australia:

1.       Inland taipan

This scaly serpent may be small but is one of the fiercest and most venomous snakes in the world. Their highly potent venom lets them take out prey twice their size, and even other snakes. Don’t worry; you are highly unlikely to find taipans in your Sydney backyard. They are endemic to the remote regions of south-western Queensland, where there are hardly any people around.

2.       Textile Cone

These killer snails are proof that nothing is innocent in Australia. Want to know the surprising weapon these critters use to subdue their prey? A harpoon-like organ laced with poison that can be fired in any direction, like a retractable missile. Aw, aren’t they nice? These snails are known to kill humans, mostly because unsuspecting beachgoers mistake these predators for conch shells and put them up against their ears.  A cone snail bite can kill you in less than a minute.

3.       Box jellyfish

There are 81 deaths known to have been caused by jellyfish since 1883, and these luminescent predators take credit for 79 of them. They may be small, fragile and kind of cute, but box jellyfish have venomous, stinger-filled tentacles that can kill within minutes after contact. They swarm the Australian coastline during the “stinger season,” usually from October to May, so be careful.

4.       Honeybees

Believe it or not, honeybees have risen up on the list of Australia’s deadliest creatures thanks to its highly allergy-causing stings. Honeybees attack at least 2 percent of the Australian population annually. That’s a lot of people with hives. Turns out, honeybee stings cause more deaths per year than sharks or the infamous spiders of Australia. Not too bad for a tiny insect.

5.       Funnel-web spiders

Australia is notorious for these arachnids, whose deadly poison can kill a fully-grown human within hours. They are, in fact, one of the most terrifying spiders found on planet earth. They have fangs sharper than almost all other spiders and even some snakes. So knife-like are these fangs they are known to bite through hard material like leather, and is able to cling onto an unfortunate victim until the final bit of venom is delivered.

6.       Redback spiders

It’s impossible to leave out the redback spiders when talking about dangerous creatures anywhere on earth. They are quite infamous in Australia, where they are instantly recognized for their red-striped black bodies. Their venom makes them particularly ghastly. Redback spiders attack with a neurotoxin that can lead to extremely painful conditions such as latrodectism, swelling, stomach cramps and uncontrollable vomiting. They certainly make you miss those other predators that kill instantly.

Despite the sheer number of petrifying creatures crawling all over Australia, many of these rarely come into contact with humans. Most dwell in unoccupied back country. However, if you are going on nature walks or trekking trips, you should take necessary precautions in advance.



About the author

Lis Meitner