Animals you don’t want to meet

Authors: Dara, Anelia, Ivan, Mihaela, Mila, Niki, Sami, Yoan, Yordan

The Golden Frog (Phyllobates terribilis)

• The Golden Poison Frog is one of the most toxic animals on earth, containing the potent toxin batrachotoxin. A 2-inch specimen has enough venom to kill 10 people. It can be seen in the rainforest of the Pacific coast of Colombia.

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• Many years ago, the frog was used for hunting, people put the frog's venom on the end of the arrow so that they could kill the prey faster.

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• Unfortunately, now this frog is an endangered species and is rarely seen due to forest fires and water pollution.

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Batrachotoxin

The Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum)

• The Gila Monster is a lizard type of creature. Unlike snakes, which inject venom, Gilas bit onto their victims and chew to allow toxins to go from their teeth and go into the open wound.

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• The Gila monster is one of the most venomous lizards in the world. If you get bit, first you must remove the lizard from the bit body part. When you are trying to remove the lizard, kick it as hard as you can and make sure it has a rough landing.

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• Interestingly on the basis of a protein (exendin-4) found in the saliva of the Gila monster a synthetic analogue called exenatide has been developed, which is now widely used for the treatment of diabetes.

The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis)

• This is the largest lizard in the world. It is about 3 metres long and weighs about 70 kg. It lives on only five Indonesian islands such as Flores, Komodo and Rinka.

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• They feed mainly on wild boars and deer, but also attack monkeys, dogs and even horses.

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• Very dangerous for the victim of the Komodo dragon is its bite. The Komodo dragon can be defined as the animal with the dirtiest mouth – its saliva contains both pathogenic bacteria and genuine venom.

Black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis)

• The Black mamba is one of the most dangerous snakes in the whole world. It is Africa's deadliest snake. It is also the fastest land snake. If you bother it, the mamba will attack you without hesitation and that is why this venomous snake is blamed for hundreds of human’s deaths. Although it is among the deadliest snake, the Black mamba can be called the beauty among other snakes due to its graceful and athletic body with a length of almost two meters.

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• The black mamba is colored in dark grey at the back and silver on underside which gives it appearance of an onyx gemstone.

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• The most remarkable characteristic of this snake is its black-colored mouth and hence its name. The natural habitat of the Black mamba snake are African savannahs. Its lifespan is around 11 years.

The Inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotusan)

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• The Inland taipan is the most venomous snake in the world. One drop of the venom can kill over 100 people. Also, the venom is 50 times more toxic than that of the cobra. It reaches 1.5-2 meters in length.

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• It is active at night, because during the day it hides from the sun in cracks and holes. It mainly feeds on rodents and it lives in Central East Australia.

The Red-tipped Scorpion

• This scorpion is one of the most aggressive. It lives in the rainforests of Central Africa. It hides under stones and fallen trees on the ground. The Red-tipped scorpion is smaller than other aggressive scorpions. It is 9 to 14 centimeters, the body color is reddish-brown and the crips sometimes are dark-red.

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• They only hunt at night because it is very warm during the day. Their food is mostly insects. When hunting, they prefer to use their crips. They only use their wire if they are in danger. Don’t attack the scorpions if you want to stay alive.

The blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena spp.)

• Blue-ringed octopus, or also known as the "Blue Death" could be found in the Pacific and Indian oceans.

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• Despite their small size of 20 centimeters they are dangerous to humans. They can be recognized when they change their coloration into characteristic blue and black rings about 50-60. They have yellowish skin.

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• The poison causes nerve paralysis. There is enough venom to kill 26 people in one such octopus.

The Box Jellyfish (class Cubozoa)

• The box jellyfish has 60 tentacles each one equipped with millions of small hooks filled with poison.
• One tentacle’s venom is enough to kill 60 people.
• One sting is enough to cause necrosis - the death of most cells in an organ or tissue.
• If the dose of the poison is higher, it can cause cardiac arrest or death within a few minutes.