Most Poisonous Animals in the World

1. Box Jellyfish

The top prize for The World Most Venomous Animal,would go to the box jellyfish. It has caused at least 5,567 recorded deaths since 1954. Their venom is among the most deadly in the world. Its toxins attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. And the worst part of it is that jelly box venom is so overpoweringly painful, that human victims go in shock, drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore. Survivors experience pain weeks after the contact with box jellies.

You have virtually no chance to survive the venomous sting, unless treated immediately. After a sting, vinegar should be applied for a minimum of 30 seconds. Vinegar has acetic acid, which disables the box jellys nematocysts that have not yet discharged into the bloodstream (though it will not alleviate the pain). Wearing panty hose while swimming is also a good prevention measure since it can prevent jellies from being able to harm your legs. Jelly box can be found in the waters around Asia and Australia.

2. King Cobra

The King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the worlds longest venomous snake - growing up to 6.7 m (22 ft) in length. Ophiophagus, literally means snake-eater as it eats other snakes. One single bite of this deadly snake can easily kill a human. This snake is even capable of killing a full-grown Asian Elephant within 3 hours if the larger animal is bitten in a vulnerable area such as the trunk. This species is widespread throughout Southeast Asia and parts of India,but found mostly in forested areas.

Its venom is not as toxic as other venomous snakes, but King Cobra is capable of injecting 5 times more venom than black mamba and can result in mortality up to 5 times faster than that of the black mamba. It is quite widespread, ranging across South and South-east Asia, living in dense highland forests.

Its genus name,Ophiophagus,literally means "snake-eater",and its diet primarily consists of other snakes,including sizeable pythons and even smaller members of its own species.The venom of the King Cobra is primarily neurotoxic,and the snake is fully capable of killing a human with a single bite.The mortality rate from a bite can be as high as 75%.

The skin is either olive-green,tan or black and it has faint,pale yellow cross bands down the length of the body.The belly is cream or pale yellow, and the scales are smooth.The head of a mature snake can be quite massive and bulky in appearance,though like all snakes,they can expand their jaws to swallow large prey items. The King Cobra's venom is primarily neuro-toxic and thus attacks the victim's central nervous system and quickly induces severe pain, blurred vision,vertigo,drowsiness,and paralysis.In one to two minutes,cardiovascular collapse occurs,and the victim falls into a coma.Death soon follows due to respiratory failure. Despite the King Cobra's fearsome reputation and deadly bite, it is a shy and reclusive animal, avoiding confrontation with humans as often as possible.

3. Marbled cone snail

This little beautiful looking Marbled cone snail can be as deadly as any other animal on this list. One drop of its venom is so powerful that it can kill more than 20 humans. If you ever happen to be in warm salt water environment (where these snails are often found) and see it, dont even think of picking it up. Of course, the true purpose of its venom is to catch its prey.

Symptoms of a cone snail sting can start immediately or can be delayed in onset for days. It results in intense pain, swelling, numbness and tingling. Severe cases involve muscle paralysis, vision changes and breathing failure. There is no antivenom. However, only about 30 human deaths have been recorded from cone snail envenomation.

4. Blue-ringed octopus

The Blue-ringed octopus is very small, only the size of a golf ball, but its venom is so powerful that can kill a human. Actually it carries enough poison to kill 26 adult humans within minutes, and there is no antidote. They are currently recognized as one of the worlds most venomous animals.

Its painless bite may seem harmless, but the deadly neurotoxins begin working immediately resulting in muscular weakness, numbness, followed by a cessation and breathing and ultimately death.They can be found in tide pools in the Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Australia.

5. Death starker scorpion

Contrarily to the popular belief most of the scorpions are relatively harmless to humans as stings produce only local effects (pain, numbness or swelling). However, the Death starker scorpion is highly dangerous species because its venom is a powerful cocktail of neurotoxins which causes an intense and unbearable pain, then fever, followed by coma, convulsions, paralysis and death. Fortunately, while a sting from this scorpion is extremely painful, it would be unlikely to kill a healthy, adult human. Young children, the old, or infirm (with a heart condition) are at the biggest risk.Death stalker scorpions are spread in North Africa and Middle East.

6. Stonefish

Maybe Stonefish would never win a beauty contest, but it would definitely win the top prize for being The World Most Venomous Fish. Its venom causes such a severe pain that the victims of its sting want the affected limb to be amputated. It is described as the worst pain known to man. It is accompanied with possible shock, paralysis, and tissue death. If not given medical attention within a couple of hours It can be fatal to humans.

Stonefish stores its toxins in gruesome-looking spines that are designed to hurt would-be predators. Stonefish mostly live above the tropic of Capricorn, often found in the shallow tropical marine waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, ranging from the Red Sea to the Queensland Great Barrier Reef.

7. Brazilian wandering spider

The Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria) or banana spider appears in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 for the most venomous spider and is the spider responsible for most human deaths. This spider is believed to have the most potent neurotoxic venom of any living spider. Only 0.006mg (0.00000021oz) is sufficient to kill a mouse. They are also so dangerous because of their wandering nature. They often hide during daytime in highly populated areas inside houses, clothes, boots, and cars. Its venomous bite causes not only intense pain, the venom of the spider can also cause priapism - uncomfortable erections lasting for many hours that lead to impotence.

8. Inland Taipan

The prize for The Worlds Most Venomous Snake goes to the Inland Taipan of Australia. Just a single bite from this snake contains enough venom to kill 100 human adults or an army of 250,000 mice. Its venom is at least 200 - 400 times more toxic than a common cobra. The Inland Taiwans extremely neurotoxic venom can kill an adult human in as little as 45 minutes. Fortunately this snake is very shy and there have been no documented human fatalities (all known bites were treated with antivenin).

The most venomous snake in the world is the fierce snake or the inland taipan snake.A single venomous strike from the fierce snake, believe it or not, has enough poison to kill 100 human adults at a time. The most deadly species of the fierce snake are the ones from Australia which have the most potent venom than any other snake on the earth’s surface. The fierce snake has a total length of 2.5 meters, though the common length is 1.8 meters.

It is dark or light brown in color, the color shades may vary according to the climatic conditions where it is found. It is usually of a darker shade in winter to sustain and absorb more heat and likewise in summer it is lighter skinned to emit out the intense heat.

Due to the availability of taipan antivenom produced by the Australian Reptile Park and Serum Laboratories in Melbourne not much human fatalities are reported. And the snake though being the most venomous has never been the major cause of human deaths occurring due to snake bites.

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/i-was-bitten-bitten-by-a-taipan.html


9. Poison dart frog

If you ever happen to be running through the rain forests somewhere in Central or South America, do not ever pick up beautiful and colorful frogs - it can be the Poison dart frog. This frog is probably the most poisonous animal on earth.The 2 inch long (5cm) golden poison dart frog has enough venom to kill 10 adult humans or 20,000 mice. Only 2 micrograms of this lethal toxin (the amount that fits on the head of a pin) is capable of killing a human or other large mammal. They are called dart frogs because indigenous Amerindians use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of their blow-darts.. Poison dart frogs keep their poison in their skins and will sicken or kill anybody who touches or eats it.

10. Puffer fish

Puffer fishare the second most poisonous vertebrate on earth (the first one is golden dart Frog). The meat of some species is a delicacy in both Japan (as fugu) and Korea (as bok-uh) but the problem is that the skin and certain organs of many puffer fish are very poisonous to humans.

This puffy fish produce rapid and violent death..Puffers poisoning causes deadening of the tongue and lips, dizziness, vomiting, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, and muscle paralysis. Victims die from suffocation as diaphragm muscles are paralyzed. Most of the victims die after four to 24 hours. There is no known antidote, Most deaths from fugu happen when untrained people catch and prepare the fish.

Statistics show that there were 20 to 44 incidents of fugu poisoning per year between 1996 and 2006 in all of Japan and up to six incidents per year led to death. Since Fugus poison can cause near instantaneous death, only licensed chefs are allowed to prepare it.

Most Japanese cities have one or more fugu restaurants. They may be clustered together. The puffer fish is very deadly and if not prepared correctly, it might be the last meal you eat! Picyures

Jelly fish, Stone fish, Blue ring octopus : http://lancelockhartwriting.blogspot.com/2009/01/watch-out-for-these-animals-in.html

Inland Taipan: http://www.myfatpocket.com/junewee/
Poison dart frog: http://www.calacademy.org/science_now/wild_lives/poison-dart_frogs.php
Puffer fish: http://crystalmint54321.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/puffer-fish/
Brazilina spider: http://thebestnewswebsite.com/gpage.html42.html
King cobra: http://maverick-geographic.blogspot.com/2009/03/king-cobra-you-wouldnt-want-to-mess.html