Tony,
"On the African continent the animal regarded as the most dangerous is the Cape Buffalo". Or maybe…
"Although hippos may look cute and friendly, they are definitely one animal you do not want to cross. Easily frightened and extremely aggressive, hippos will not hesitate to attack a human, especially if one of its young babies are near. Hippos pose the biggest threat to those living in the continent of Africa.
Death Toll: 300+ per year
See more here.
Cheers,
Tom I agree entirely with you that Hippos are dangerous.
If one is on or in the water and there are hippos with young nearby then there is definite danger from aggressive hippos attacking one.
Outside the water, on land, there is still plenty of danger if hippos are close by, however in this case fatalities are usually due to blind panic on the part of the hippo - one just gets, literally, run over by the hippo as its makes for the water at best pace.
This is not aggression; the hippo is just rushing to get to the safety of the water.
Either way of course they do kill.
Cape buffalo, on the other hand, never kill by default.
Their aggression, mean spirit, and persistence are legendary.
They are known to deliberately "hunt" an adversary including tactics such as circling back and ambush.
This is extraordinary behaviour from a species that is a herbivore!
In general Africa is full of potentially very dangerous animals.
Crocodiles are also responsible for plenty of fatalities.
Venomous snakes are likely responsible tens to hundreds of thousands of deaths per annum in Africa.
This is mainly due to a lack of healthcare and access to appropriate antivenins.
However, as has already been pointed out, the Anopheline mosquito is the biggest killer in Africa being responsible for the spread of malaria, Yellow fever, and Dengue fever. Combined with poor healthcare the result is absolute carnage, particularly in the under-five age group.
Tony Jay
