Deadliest animal

Based on the number of human deaths from the diseases that they transmit – an estimated 725,000 to 1 million every year – Anopheles mosquitoes are by far the most lethal animals on Earth today. These insects are vectors (carriers/transmitters) of various parasites, which the mosquitoes pass on when feeding on our blood. The most dangerous of these parasites is the one-celled Plasmodium, which causes malaria, but other potentially deadly mosquito-borne illnesses include dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever.

Only certain species of mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus – and only females of those species – can transmit malaria.

By contrast, snakes claim an estimated 50,000 human lives per year (mainly from venomous bites) and dogs 25,000 (mainly from transmitting rabies).