World's deadliest animals

The tussle between humans and animals is not as one-sided as you may think. We count down the top ten deadliest animals.

Since the dawn of man, humans have held sway over the animal kingdom, hunting animals for purposes of food, tools, survival and sport. But animals still do a fair bit of damage to humans, claiming the lives of a more than two million people each year.

So which animals are the worst offenders? It’s not the usual suspects. Sharks, whose attacks receive the most publicity, only kill three to four humans a year. The most poisonous animal on earth, the poison-arrow frog, lives deep within the tropical rainforests of Central and South America and rarely makes contact with humans.

We've ranked the top 10 deadliest animals based on the annual number of human deaths for which they claim responsibility, either through direct contact or disease. Click through our gallery to see who makes the list.