Whether hiking or diving, encounters with exotic animals can be dangerous. Especially in Australia, but also in other countries, there are potentially lethal specimens. The greatest danger, however, is of species, many of which are not yet suspected.
In the aquarium in the zoo in Berlin, yellow-banded nursing glands are no danger. This is different in a part of the Colombian rainforest. Lange / Bonn (DPA / tan) – A tourist will never encounter the deadly Horrible Dart-poison frog. Unless he goes on an expedition to a tiny area of the Colombian rainforest.
The biologist Knut Eichstaedt from Langen often sees “populism” in the stories about dangerous animals. Nevertheless, it is important to be prepared for animal encounters depending on the type of trip.
For trekking and hiking in the wilderness, one should be protected from poisonous snakes and spiders. “Deaths from toxic snakes are quite frequent with 50,000 cases a year,” says Prof. Rainer Ganschow from the University Hospital of Bonn. The poison can act very quickly and lead to muscle cramps, dyspnea, bleeding and cardiac arrest.
The poison of the domestic dip is most dangerous. This species occurs only in a small area in the Australian Outback. Also around the king’s cobra, for example, in Thailand or rattlesnakes in the USA, hikers should make a big bow.
The trekking guide and tourism consultant Andreas Happen from Freedland advises caution: “Do not hold in caves or under stones, wear ankle-high shoes and pour them out before dressing.” Scorpions are also thrown out, despite which painful stitches only very few species dangerous for people. After a snake bite, initial measures are important. Ganschow advises the immediate cleaning of the wound, a venous throat above the injury, and, if necessary, an antiseptic: “The immediate search for a doctor can be life-saving.”
The most dangerous spider in the world is the Sydney Trichternetzspinne in Australia. Also, bites of a black widow, the hermit spider or the Brazilian migrating spider cause pain. Death by a spider bite is quite rare.
More danger for travelers is from ordinary animals. “Stray dogs are responsible for around 25,000 death victims each year,” says Ganschow. Because they can transmit rabies. Experts warn most of all when traveling in front of a small, often usable animal: the mosquito. In the tropics and subtropics, it carries many deadly diseases and is therefore regarded as the most dangerous animal in the world. Important: consistent mosquito protection!
In principle, the danger of certain animal species is often very distorted. In the water, the greatest fear is sure of the shark. Wrong: With about ten deaths a year, shark injuries “play virtually no role” as Rainer Ganschow says. Knut Eichstaedt confirms: “Jellyfish are the most annoying.” Of course, there is a difference between the fire breeze in the Baltic Sea and the dice quail or the seaweed named relatives in North Australia: “One hurts, the other kills me.”
For protection in Australia whole beaches are fenced on the lake side. “Always inquire about the dangers you must face,” recommends Eichstaedt. “Most beaches have infotainers, where the most important thing is.”
Divers must also know some dangers. For example, the poison of the stonefish sitting in the spine fins can be fatal. The species occurs in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific, and the Red Sea. In the list of the most dangerous animals, the sea serpents native to the Indian and the Pacific Ocean are never wanting. Above all, fishermen must fight with them. The coveted, but highly poisonous billfish in Japan is rather shy, and usually, avoids divers. A bow makes divers the best around the highly toxic tropical cone. Anyone who takes care of her risks death.
Likewise, it may be better not to get too close to the holly: In 2006, the Australian documentary filmmaker Steve Irwin died at the Great Barrier Reef through a cock-prick.