December 8, 2024, 9:00 am | Read time: 6 minutes
Just one bite, sting, or touch is enough to send a person or animal to the afterlife in no time at all. Whether on land or in the water, it is often a race against time when the venom of these dangerous animals takes effect. PETBOOK takes a closer look at the most poisonous of them.
Australia ranks first internationally as the continent with the most venomous animals. But these highly toxic animals, whose poison can lead to paralysis and respiratory arrest within minutes, also live in the arid regions of Mexico or in the rainforests of Brazil, in Southeast Asia, or in Africa. We usually think of scary spiders and hissing cobras, but jellyfish, fish, and tiny frogs can also be our undoing. Fortunately, there is an antidote for many of the animal poisons, but not always! Here are the five most poisonous animals in the world.1
1. Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus Microlepidotus)
It is considered the most venomous snake in the world and lives in the Australian outback. The amount of venom secreted by a bite from the approximately 2.5-meter-long venomous snake can kill around 230 people or 250,000 mice. This makes it many times more poisonous than the poison dart frog and 50 times more poisonous than an Indian cobra. It is the only snake in Australia that can change color. In winter, it is reddish-brown to absorb more sunlight; at high temperatures, the color changes to yellowish-olive.
Venom: The venom contains the highly effective neurotoxin “taipoxin”. The viper also produces proteases that destroy red blood cells and inhibit blood clotting.
Effect: The venom blocks nerve impulses, paralyzes muscles, and leads to organ failure. It can be fatal within 30 to 45 minutes.
Antidote: There are specific antivenoms (antivenins) against taipan venom. Rapid administration can save lives, and immediate access to medical help is crucial.
2. Box Jellyfish (Chironex Fleckeri)
It is the most poisonous of all jellyfish, is known as the “sea wasp,” and is also native to Australia. Its venom can kill 250 people in one go, making it one of the most venomous animals in the world. Visually, with its 30 tentacles, it may be considered a fascinating beauty. With its gelatinous body, it is almost invisible and likes to move slowly in shallow waters – exactly where people like to go swimming. This makes them particularly dangerous. It is native to the Pacific beaches of northern Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, western Australia, and coastal waters in the Indo-Pacific. It has now also been spotted in the waters of Florida, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand and even the UK.2
Venom: The venom literally shoots out of the stinging thread of the cnidocytes in the tentacles on contact and is injected into the victim’s skin.
Effect: The toxin attacks the nerves and can lead to extremely severe pain, paralysis, and eventually cardiac arrest. The symptoms often appear within a few minutes. Time of death: two to five minutes for severe stings.
Antidote: An antivenin exists, but a doctor must apply it extremely quickly. Using a genetic engineering process, Australian researchers have developed an antivenin that largely blocks the effect of the jellyfish venom if it is applied to the skin within 15 minutes of the sting. Lifeguards are now to be equipped with it. Vinegar is sometimes used as an immediate measure, but this can cause still-active stinging cells to burst open and release even more venom into the circulation. Sand, on the other hand, can immediately render the cells inactive. Otherwise, be sure to cool!
3. Stonefish (Synanceia Verrucosa)
It is also one of the most poisonous animals in the world. As a lurking hunter, it likes to bob around in the shallow waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, waiting motionlessly for fish or crustaceans, which it literally sucks in. Divers know how amazingly it resembles a harmless stone with its crustose algae, and this camouflage makes it so difficult to recognize. But on its back, the stonefish has fins with spines that inject the toxin.3 4
Venom: The venom contains the protein-containing toxin verrucotoxin (VTX).
Effects: The stings of its spines cause extremely severe pain all over the body, respiratory weakness, damage to the cardiovascular system, cramps, vomiting, necrosis, nausea, loss of consciousness, and paralysis. These can sometimes lead to death. It can be fatal within a few hours.
Antidote: The antiserum Stonefish Antivenom was developed in Australia and is reportedly only produced there. It is very expensive to obtain by prescription from international pharmacies and must be stored in the dark at seven degrees Celsius. It must be injected by a doctor no more than two hours after the bite.
As the venom is heat-labile, hot water (at least 45 degrees Celsius) should be applied to the affected area immediately as a first aid measure. Lidocaine, which can be applied or injected around the injury site, helps to relieve the pain.
4. Blue-Ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena)
This highly poisonous octopus species is a marine inhabitant of the coastal regions of Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and New Guinea. The impressive cephalopod is often found in small tidal pools, where it hunts for crabs. If it feels threatened, it shows its warning coloration with bright blue rings.5
Venom: Its venom, the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin, is produced by bacteria found in the foregut and salivary glands of the octopus.
Effect: The neurotoxin tetrodotoxin also develops its effect very quickly. Paralysis occurs within two hours, leading to respiratory arrest and ventricular fibrillation.
Antidote: A specific antidote is not known. If the affected person is properly ventilated, they may be able to survive without consequential damage. In around 100 years, there have only been three deaths from octopus bites in Australia.
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5. Golden Poison Frog (Phyllobates Terribilis)
This diminutive yet deadly amphibian inhabits the rainforests of tropical Central and South America at altitudes ranging from 50 to 800 meters. It is particularly common in the Amazon region. It is considered the most poisonous frog in the world. The amphibians got their common name from the fact that their poison was applied to arrowheads by the Indigenous peoples and used for hunting with blowpipes: Poison Arrow Frog.6
Poison: A single frog produces up to one milligram of batrachotoxin. The tree-climbing frog obtains this poison from its diet, which consists mainly of tropical ants and beetles. Their organisms contain poisonous alkaloids that are supposed to protect them from predators.
Effect: The active ingredient batrachotoxin attacks the nervous system and penetrates the bloodstream through skin contact (minor injuries). It prevents the inactivation of the sodium channels and is, therefore, a so-called convulsive poison. Depending on the quantity, it can cause respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest within minutes or hours and thus lead to death.
Antidote: Tetrodotoxin can be used to treat batrachotoxin poisoning due to its antagonistic effect on sodium flow.