15 Most Dangerous Creatures in Australia

having been separated from other land masses around the world for many Millennia life in Australia has evolved along a separate path this is what's led to the country being home to countless stunning animals that you won't find anywhere else join me for today's video I'm gonna count down the top 15 most dangerous creatures in Australia number 15 the box jellyfish box jellyfish are some of the most dangerous creatures in the oceans and if you're ever unfortunate enough to encounter one when you're swimming your best bet is to get the hell out of the water as soon as possible there are actually more than 51 known species of box jelly Each of which are equipped with potent Venom and a number of which are found in waters around Australia including those with the most deadly toxins identifiable because of their square-shaped Bells they have tentacles that hang from each corner now each of these tentacles contains around half a million specialized cells that have microscopic harpoon-shaped structures and it's through these that the Venom is delivered now usually human contact with one only cause a mild envenomation because this is the way that they hunt and they only need to inject enough Venom to kill small fish but if a person happens to be Tangled Up in the tentacles then it's a very different story The toxins they inject cause the cells of the body to become so porous that vital nutrients begin to leak out which in turn elevates concentrations of these chemicals in the bloodstream and that can lead to cardiovascular collapse and therefore death within about five minutes add to this that victims are usually in deep water with no chance of reaching dry land so even if they don't die immediately they're likely to drown and now you see why they're so feared number 14. mouse spider there are 18 different species of mouse spider all of which are in the genus miscellinum and 17 of which are found across Australia they get their name because they were originally believed to dig winding Burrows in a similar way that mice do although this is now known not to be true and they actually live in underground cavities that are up to a foot or a third of a meter deep they usually grow to around 5 inches or about five centimeters long and can develop Vivid colors across their carapace which makes it seem shiny if you see one out in the open it's more than likely a male because the females spend most of their lives within the Burrows and wait for their partner to bring back small insects for them to feed on both sexes produce a nasty toxin though so if you do come across one you should definitely stay well clear luckily mouse spiders tend to be non-aggressive even if they do bite they normally don't inject any Venom instead choosing to keep it for use against prey but if you do fall victim to a wet bite the consequences can be fatal their venom contains a type of robust toxin that's similar to that found in other Australian spiders species and left untreated it can lead to cardiovascular issues the accumulation of fluid in the lungs and in some cases heart failure number 13 blue ringed octopus currently there are four known types of blue ringed octopus with the most commonly seen three of them being native to Australian Waters now they're usually seen in rock pools or on coral reefs your skin is mainly yellow but has a series of blue black rings that will change color when the animals feels in danger they grow to about just 8 inches or 20 centimeters long and feed on small Crustaceans like crabs and shrimp but because of their vulnerability to predation from larger animals they've developed a highly effective defensive technique their bodies are packed full of high levels of tetrodotoxin and they produce Venom that not only contains a neurotoxin but several other potent chemicals this means that consuming a blue-ringed octopus is almost guaranteed to be deadly and handling one is an extreme risk because if they bite you you'll be in a world of pain and possibly death each blue-ringed octopus contains enough Venom at any time to kill 26 healthy adults and to make things worse it's not immediately noticeable if you've been bitten symptoms will begin to develop within several minutes however and can include nausea heart failure and paralysis death usually happens because of the paralysis in the respiratory system and currently there's no known anti-venom to help overcome it instead victims who were able to get to hospital in time are put on ventilators to ensure they keep breathing and it's simply a case of waiting and hoping that the body can flush out those toxins number 12. Red back spider now Australia is known for the variety of different species of spider but while the largest ones may give you a fright it's often the smaller ones that you need to be most wary of one of the most deadly is called the red back which is a type of widow spider but far more dangerous than the closely related black and brown varieties with a body length of up to 0.4 inches or about a centimeter they're identifiable by the spherical black body with a red stripe along the back and an hourglass shape marking on their undersides of the abdomen they're a nocturnal species that build messy webs in warm sheltered locations and this means that quiet human structures are ideal for them their usual diet is made up of insects spiders and other small animals that get caught in their webs and when this happens the red back will crawl up to it squirt it with a sticky web-like substance to prevent it from moving inject its highly potent Venom with its two fangs and then wrap the prey in silk before sucking up the liquefied remains due to the way they often build their webs near human activity and the fact they'll aggressively defend themselves if they feel at risk redbacks are one of the most potentially problematic spider species for humans with bites often resulting in extreme pain nausea vomiting and hallucinations the redback is said to have historically been responsible for more human envenomations that require treatment than any other animal in Australia with as many as 10 000 people thought to be bitten each year and while this does sound bad and it will have been extremely unpleasant for all who were attacked there's a very good chance you'll survive as there's now a highly effective treatment in fact the most recent death associated with one happened in 2016 and there are only 15 confirmed deaths by redbacks in the last 150 years number 11. bull shark sharks are known for being the alpha predators of the ocean one of the reasons they've been able to maintain this position for hundreds of thousands of years is that they've evolved to be extremely efficient killing machines while the waters around Australia may contain the deadliest of them all the great white there's arguably a much greater risk to people from another species the bull shark what's dangerous about bull sharks is that they tend to keep to the regions that are also often used by humans and they've been known to swim up Rivers into fresh water in search of prey growing to an average of eight feet or about two and a half meters long with many individuals known to have exceeded this they have one of the strongest bite forces of any known living fish they're also known for being highly aggressive too both while hunting and defending their territory and this means they're one of three species of shark most likely to attack humans in fact it's widely believed that a bull shark was responsible for the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 which was the event that served as inspiration for the novel and movie Jaws as a highly unpredictable species if you ever find yourself in the water near one of these sharks you'd better get to safety quick because once one has set its sights on you there's very little you're able to do to protect yourself number 10 Northern funnel web spider the Northern Tree dwelling funnel web spider is a species that can be found in eastern Australia and one of only two types of funnel webs that are known to live in trees with some individuals having been found as high as a hundred feet or about 30 meters up in the forest canopy their bodies alone grow to around 2 inches or five centimeters long and with their legs adding substantially more bulk to their overall appearance they're also known for either their black or dark brown colorations they set up their webs in the trees to capture prey but will also hunt along the floor at certain times of day they can be quite aggressive and instead of running they'll try to stand their ground often standing on their back legs and exposing their fangs towards any perceived threats when they do this small drops of Venom can be seen forming on their teeth and this is a sign that the spider is preparing to bite if they do decide to attack they're likely to deliver a significant amount of Venom and more than 60 percent of bites on humans are said to result in serious symptoms these can include extreme perspiration high blood pressure pressure and a regular heartbeat extreme pain and the accumulation of fluid in and around the lungs which in extreme situations can lead to death in fact the northern funnel web injects so much venom with each bite and that that Venom is extremely potent it means that the species often regarded as one of the most venomous in the world it's just fortunate that attacks on humans are relatively rare number nine saltwater crocodile found across southeast Asia and with as many as two hundred thousand individuals around Australia saltwater crocodiles are the largest known living reptiles and easily the most powerful and potentially vicious creatures in the country a full-grown adult can grow Beyond 21 feet or 6.3 meters long and weigh as much as 2 900 pounds and they're at the top of the food chain in the shallow salt water and freshwater marshy regions that they live in fossils of salties have been found in Australia that date back as far as the pliocene era more than two and a half million years ago and they're such effective predators that they've changed very little since then with wider snouts than most other Crocs and Broad bodies that are more similar to those of alligators they tend to grab their prey and drag it under water to drown it before swallowing it whole of course the deadliest part of the saltwater crocodile is its bite and this species holds the record for the strongest bite force of any animal that's been tested in lab settings achieving 3690 PSI which is around a third more powerful than the American alligator what's surprising though is that this force is only that strong in One Direction when they're biting down and their jaws are so weak when opening that they can be held closed with tape of all crocodilians salties are most likely to treat humans that Venture into their territory as prey and in Australia alone there's an average of two fatalities a year that are attributed to them this is a a low number though it's thought to be the result of a concerted campaign to warn people of the risks and to stay clear of areas where the Crocs are present there's no doubt that they're incredibly dangerous animals and probably one of the most likely creatures worldwide to happily attack you kill you and eat you if you got close enough number eight textile cone snail normally found in warmer tropical waters there are at least 900 different known species of cone snails around the world with the greatest variety being in the Western indo-pacific Ocean and at least 150 known from the coastline of Australia taking on a wide range of different shapes and sizes you might well be tempted to pick one up if you ever see one but the snail inside it is still alive and this could turn out to be a big mistake that's because cone snails are highly predatory animals and produce concentrated levels of potent toxins that allow them to haunt other creatures in the ocean they have a modified tooth which is as sharp as a hypodermic needle and they're able to extend it a long way out of their body to deliver the Venom something they're likely to do to try to defend themselves if they're handled it's almost like a harpoon this tooth will detach from the snail so all the Venom is injected into the Target and a backup tooth will move into place so they can strike again in almost instantaneously if they need to while the sting of a smaller cone snail may be no worse than that of a bee the amount of toxin delivered by a larger cone snail can be fatal symptoms will begin to develop that include intense pain blurred vision and muscle paralysis and can result in the paralysis of the respiratory system that in serious cases can lead to asphyxiation number seven your kanji sometimes categorized alongside the box jellyfish There are 16 known species of irukanji jellies all of which are only native to the northern Waters of Australia and are regarded as some of the most venomous creatures on the planet fortunately they're relatively rare but with all the species typically growing a bell measuring an inch or about two and a half centimeters across at most and transparent Tentacles from just a few inches to up to three feet or a meter long it's virtually impossible to know quite how many there actually are in the water the first anything was known about them was in 1952 with a classification of a new condition called irukanji syndrome This was later confirmed to be caused by them not only do they have stingers on their tentacles but they have them around their Bells too and they're also able to actively shoot Stingers from their tentacles at prey which shows their active Predators as opposed to passive ones like most other jellyfish their sting is said to be around a thousand times stronger than that of a tarantula just a tiny amount of the Venom is needed to trigger irakanji syndrome which includes symptoms such as muscle cramps pain in the kidneys the sense of burning Across the Skin and in particular the face headaches nausea sweating and intense psychological distress this syndrome can fortunately be treated so deaths are pretty unusual but cases have in recent years become more common in Australia and further afield which is causing concern that changing ocean temperatures are allowing them to spread to Regions where people aren't familiar with the symptoms and the immediate need for medical Intervention when they develop something that could lead to increased deaths number six common Death Adder the common Death Adder is a variety of death editor that's found in Australia and New Guinea visually looking very similar to a Viper they have triangular heads and short bodies and are perfectly colored to camouflage in the undergrowth they're mainly found in forests woodlands and grasslands on the eastern coast of Australia but with increasing pressures on population numbers particularly because of the spread of cane toads these snakes are beginning to venture beyond their traditional range delivering a deadly bite their venom contains a nasty neurotoxin which attacks the muscles and can lead to a painful death it delivers the fastest strike of all snakes native to Australia taking only 0.13 seconds to strike and return back to where it was and it can kill a human within six hours without treatment luckily anti-venoms are effective against the effects and because of the relatively slow acting nature of their toxins they aren't as deadly as they once were before the anti-venom was introduced Death Adder attacks would result in a more totality rate of 50 percent and now it's been years since anyone succumbed to a bite common death adders are though one of the snake species that's more likely to bite a person who's walking through brushland habitats and that's because of the way that they hunt rather than actively tracking prey they coil up and hide in the undergrowth and wait for something to go past it's easy for them to mistake a human for a more manageable sized prey so bites around the ankles are a risk in the areas that they're present number five jumper ants there are a number of ant species across the globe that possess potent Venom and are able to inflict a nasty bite but there's one in Australia that because of its behavior is able to attack in ways unlike any others known as jumper ants they're native to Eastern Australia and are relatively large with some workers growing to over 0.6 inches or 1.5 centimeters long identifiable by their orange and black coloration they're able to jump four inches or just over 10 centimeters in the air which means that when acting in a defensive way they're able to LEAP up and bite it parts of the perceived threat that other ants can't main reason for this though is so they can reach the bushes and trees to forage for food as opposed to staying on the ground they're also known to enslave ants of other species to work for them and will be extremely aggressive when trying to protect their colony and their venom is instrumental in their ability to do this against smaller ants it's deadly men even on humans the sting of a single act is potentially fatal if it triggers anaphylaxis and even if it doesn't you can expect a burning sensation around the sight of the sting for many days after it happened and if left untreated it can develop into a painful ulcer and that'll take far longer to heal number four Reef stonefish if you're swimming over reefs around Australia you might well see what happens to be a rock or a piece of coral moving and if you do it'd be a good idea to stay well clear of it that's because you might have spotted what's often regarded to be the deadliest known fish in the oceans because of how often they're encountered by people The Reef stonefish normally taking on a brown or gray color to blend in with the environment they may also have dashes of yellow orange or red they grow to around 16 inches or 40 centimeters long and spend most of their time Motionless In wait for prey when a Target passes by Reef stonefish have been seen to strike within a hundredth of a second leaving virtually no chance for their victim to escape along their dorsal area they have 13 rigid spines that are sharp enough to puncture through boots and each of these spines is fed by two Venom sacks making it by far the most venomous fish of all across the 13 spines there's enough Venom to deliver a fatal dose to two people and even if you're only caught by one or two of them you'll develop symptoms like extreme pain shock and potentially even temporary paralysis many people who have been unfortunate enough to be stung by one of these have never made a full recovery as the Venom can be so destructive it causes permanent nerve damage around the affected site which can lead to lifelong muscular atrophy number three inland taipan often referred to as the fierce snake the inland taipan is one of the most deadly creatures on the planet its bike delivers the most toxic venom of any snake and can kill a human in less than an hour found in the semi-arid regions of central eastern Australia this brown or Olive colored serpent is a specialist mammal Hunter with Venom that is adapted to be particularly effective on warm-blooded animals in one bite the snake releases enough toxicity to kill more than a hundred adults luckily for us it lives in extremely remote parts so encounters with humans are rare but if you're unfortunate enough to get bitten by one then it'll be an uncomfortable experience the Venom contains a vicious blend of neurotoxins in particular paradoxin which is one of the most potent neurotoxins ever discovered and causes the nervous system to shut down as well as hemotoxins that destroy red blood cells and prevent oxygen passing around the body myotoxins that affect the muscles and cause paralysis and a few other nasty chemicals that affect the kidneys and blood vessels death from the Venom will usually come from the side effects of paralysis that bring on respiratory failure or hemorrhaging that occurs as a result of the attack on the circulatory system meaning it's also a rather unpleasant last few moments before it takes hold fortunately anti-venom is available to help treat the effects of a bite from the inland taipan but you would need to be treated fairly soon after the incident and even then you'd have to suffer through some painful side effects number two Australian paralysis tick of around 75 different species of tick in Australia the ominously named Australian paralysis tick is seen as the most problematic to humans found exclusively along the country's Eastern Coastline particularly in damp Forest areas they have four different stages of their life cycles and in three of these they will attach to hosts and begin to feed as the region they're native to is also highly populated bytes from these ticks are fairly common and will cause rashes itching and pain around the site for people and occasionally May trigger an allergic reaction that can be far more dangerous the risk they pose though is to pets and livestock especially as they're tricky to spot beneath fur and if they're able to feed for long enough the toxins they pump into the host blood will begin to have adverse effects often leading to Temporary paralysis it's thought that as many as a hundred thousand domesticated animals suffer from symptoms related to ticks each year with as many as 10 000 needing Veterinary treatment and in the wild amongst livestock the figure of affected animals is likely to be many times that with the further risk of the ticks passing on bacterial diseases as well if you get any sense that one of these has attached itself to you it's important you carefully remove it as quickly as possible number one Sydney funnel web spider there are a number of different funnel web species in Australia but one of the most notorious and dangerous is the Sydney funnel web found in the region around the city of Sydney they grow bodies that are up to two inches or five centimeters long and have a dark coloration that's between dark blue to black or brown they lay in weight in Burrows with a complex network of webs in the surrounding area that lets them know by vibration whether something is passing by when the chance presents itself they bleep out grab their prey which includes insects and frogs by their front legs and bite down with their fangs to inject Venom before waiting for their target to be weak enough that it can be consumed if they feel threatened or angered they rear up on their back legs and display their fangs and if they need to they'll hold on tight with their front legs and deliver repeated bites compounds within their venom mean that it's a particularly effective thing against humans and other primates and targets the central nervous system some times after biting the spider will remain attached to you because its fangs have dug in so deep and symptoms will begin to develop within an hour they include muscle twitching difficulty breathing and confusion and particularly if they've bitten several times can lead to death if medical attention isn't given soon enough I'll see you next time watch out for those creepy crawlies watch our animals playlist for more top 15 videos about animals sit back relax and binge watch all of our best animal related videos

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 220,231

Keywords: Australia, Creatures, animals

Id: yrF2zEZzONU

Length: 21min 45sec (1305 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 02 2023