![]() Tourists visiting many of these untamed frontiers are in much greater danger, as some do not heed the warnings of natives or find themselves too close to a hippopotamus, rhino or lion. Polar bears occasionally attack natives of Alaska and Canada, while Australian aborigines have been mauled by dingoes. In some parts of Africa and South America, rural tribesmen and their families are still frequently attacked and sometimes killed by animals. Yet humans retain primal fears of wild animals that harkens back to the days when shelter could be found in caves, rather than houses and when men held only spears, rather than rifles. By one estimate, governments of the world alone have influenced the killing of 175 million people during the 20th century, averaging almost 2 million deaths per year. Of course, people kill far more of each other than wild animals do. Incredibly, the most dangerous animal to humans on Earth is the common mosquito, which often carries deadly malaria, that amounts to approximately one million fatalities each year. of course and they will vary from country to country, with different terrains being inhabited by different kinds of animals. Over 30 Americans per year experience attacks by their family pet, and even the occasional deer caught in the headlights kills over one hundred Americans per year on road trips. Around five campers and hikers die from rattlesnake bites annually in the U.S., and as many from the black widow spider. ![]() More than 20 Americans are killed by cows (and as many by horses) per year, yet these large herbivores would only usually instill terror into the hearts of very young children. Captive Wild Animal Safety Act took effect, banning the sale or transportation of lions, tigers, snow leopards, or other big cats. In practice, surprisingly, there is statistically less than one death per year resulting from exotic pet ownership in the U.S. for example, the story makes the news and is carried to neighboring states, prompting legislators and city council members to enact ordinances and statutes meant to license or even restrict the ownership of exotic pets. What is it about some animals, however, that makes them seem more dangerous than others? Each time an exotic pet attacks its owner or a passerby in the U.S. ![]() Other than these largely unsuccessful efforts to use animals as weapons, humans have rarely used animals in warfare since horses were replaced with tanks and armored personnel carriers. PETA director Ingrid Newkirk contacted Yasser Arafat asking him to keep animals out of the fighting. ![]() In 2003, Palestinians used a donkey to carry out an unsuccessful attack near Jerusalem. Human beings have occasionally turned harmless animals into deadly weapons in the past, such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, the West Bank, and Lebanon, where donkeys have been used to carry explosives, occasionally killing policemen and soldiers. Part of the phenomenon of such programming seems to be a natural fear that we have of some animals, one so primal that even the possible presence of a potential predator far in the distance may curdle our blood at the thought of the possibility of being eaten alive, injected with a painful venom or perhaps even having a sizeable chunk bitten out of us. Viewers tuned in to see bears, eagles, wolves, sharks, snakes, and even pets attack unsuspecting people who came too close. ‘When Animals Attack!’ was one of the highest rated shows aired by FOX in America during the 1990s.
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