MOST DETESTED MAMMALS ON EARTH
Added on: 13th Nov 2016
KANGAROO
The Australian highway version of a deer, kangaroos are also
perplexed by headlights and are often hit by traveling cars in
more remote areas. Hitting a kangaroo can easily destroy a
small car. In fact, 18 Australians died last decade
from roo-related collisions.
BAT
Yes, a bat is a mammal rather than a bird and most of us are
pretty freaked out by these nocturnal creatures. Though
often dramatized at Halloween time as blood suckers, bats
rarely bite humans and actually prefer insects to blood. They
act as an effective pest control, plant pollinator and natural
fertilizer producer. If there’s any mammal we should love
rather than hate, it’s the bat.
SHORT-TAILED WEASEL
The cute-looking short-tailed weasel is anything but cute!
These greedy little mammals have hunting instincts bigger
than their stomachs and often kill way more than they
can eat. They can also swim up to a mile in the ocean and
can wander up to 40 miles (65 km) at one time. In New Zealand,
these hated animals have been responsible for the
extinction of quite a few bird species.
FERAL CAT
One of humanity’s most common house pets, cats are generally
thought of as harmless and docile, though a bit lazy, creatures.
But when cats go feral, meaning when house cats become wild
cats, they can be quite the pest. One study found that
62-82% of feral cats carried toxoplasmosis: a parasite which
causes neurological damage to marine mammals. Beyond their
danger to health, feral cats have also hunted the Okinawa
woodpecker and Cayman Island ground iguana into
endangered statuses.
DOG
Though we know them as “man’s best friend”, maybe we should
rethink our relationship with dogs. In a period of just over 30
years up to 2013, over 450 people were killed by dogs in
Canada & the U.S. and over 2,400 people were maimed.
Furthermore, in India alone, about 20,000 people die each year
due to rabies infections from dog bites, the source of
90% of human rabies infections globally.
HIPPOPOTAMUS
Named from the ancient Greek words for “river horse”, the
hippopotamus is one of the deadliest animals in Africa. Its
unpredictable nature and aggression has led it to charge
quite a few boats and humans. For example, in 2014, a
hippo charged a boat near Niger’s capital which led to the
death of 13 people. In Colombia, a local drug lord decided to
raise four hippos. After his death, his estate was abandoned
and the hippos multiplied rapidly. About 20 years later, the
population was almost five times as large and some of the
hippos even escaped and killed nearby cattle and attacked
humans, making it quite a hated animal in the area.
GOAT
The goat: though it might seem like a simple animal which goes
great with Indian curry, this is one tough animal. Domesticated
in western Iran over 10,000 years ago, goats can survive
some of the least hospitable climates on Earth. Add in a
rabid appetite and ability to consume almost any tough plant
matter and herds can ravage small islands and lead to
ecosystem collapse. (Goat herds have been known to grow so
large they cover an area up to 12 miles across).
MONGOOSE
Originating from central and southern Asia, the mongoose is a
wily predator. Introduced to islands such as Mauritius and
Fiji to wipe out surging rat populations on sugar cane plantations,
the mongoose took a liking to other local foods it found and now
both the rat and mongoose are invasive and destroying
the ecosystem.
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