# What is the most dangerous wild animal in England? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375 "2003-07-05T13:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/61 "2003-07-06T17:24:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ralph124c \* > \*\*Aren’t there still wolves in Scotland? Also, bears? \*\* No, there was a recent proposal to reintroduce wolves and lynx to Scotland to control the numbers of red deer, using a similar scheme in Sweden as a model, but it hasn’t been adopted. The last wild wolves in England and Scotland were killed in the 18[sup]th[/sup] century and there haven’t been wild bears in Britain for many centuries (a ghost of the last one killed in England is said to haunt the C14[sup]th[/sup] Verdley Castle). ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/62 "2003-07-06T19:10:42Z")
If you include insects; the housefly. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/63 "2003-07-06T19:27:31Z")
It’s safe to say that [the midge](http://www.midgeater.co.uk/facts.htm) feasts on more people than any wild animal in the UK. I don’t know if that makes it the most dangerous, but you wouldn’t believe how ferocious a swarm of them can be until suddenly they’re blocking out the sun and you’re on the menu. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/64 "2003-07-06T20:11:55Z")
[Seagulls](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/southern_counties/2983864.stm) ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/65 "2003-07-06T20:13:21Z")
[YIKES!!](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1435360.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/66 "2003-07-06T21:05:05Z")
It strikes me that there’s alomst some kind of macho thing going on here; as if the presence of something really big and ferocious, or small but incredibly venomous either makes it a better place to live, or makes you a better person for living there… ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/67 "2003-07-06T21:39:56Z")
Hmm… Tony Blair (small and venomous) Margaret Thatcher (big and ferocious). So that’s how they got in. Introducing a few black widow spiders would have been far simpler. (Doesn’t explain John Major, though). ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/68 "2003-07-06T21:59:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*It strikes me that there’s alomst some kind of macho thing going on here; as if the presence of something really big and ferocious, or small but incredibly venomous either makes it a better place to live, or makes you a better person for living there… \*\* Bloody Australians. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/69 "2003-07-06T22:19:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MC Master of Ceremonies \* > \*\*I think elephants kill more people than any other kind of animal in zoos in the UK \*\* Do you have a cite? ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/70 "2003-07-06T23:06:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by county \* > \*\*Do you have a cite? \*\* This is from memory only IIRC about 3 or 4 keepers have been killed by elephants in the last couple of years in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/71 "2003-07-06T23:37:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MC Master of Ceremonies \* > \*\*This is from memory only IIRC about 3 or 4 keepers have been killed by elephants in the last couple of years in the UK. \*\* Yep, [three in two years](http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zoonews005.htm). ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/72 "2003-07-07T00:45:03Z")
**Bees** are the most dangerous animal on the planet (after humans). Does this not translate to England? Too lazy to cite. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/73 "2003-07-07T00:55:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarone \* > \*\*Yep, [three in two years](http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zoonews005.htm). \*\* Well then, there you have it - absent another wild animal with higher stats - the elephants have it ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/74 "2003-07-07T01:10:27Z")
hmm…well shouldn’t the governent be doing something about this elephant menace on our streets? Only today I saw a mob of three or four elephants pushing around some old lady on a street corner. As regards bees. I think our bees are different to those found elsewhere. You have to annoy them otherwise they just ignore you. British animals fall into two categories - they are either very friendly or very timid. Bees aren’t timid but they aren’t out to get you either so they fall into the friendly camp. The slightly dangerous ones like badgers and vipers are also very timid so you will never see one. Other dangerous animals like deer and cows will only kill you by accident because they are being over-friendly. We don’t seem to have any animals that are both dangerous _and_ unfriendly. ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/75 "2003-07-07T01:15:20Z")
Except maybe a bull. I wouldn’t like to find myself alone in a field with a bull. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/76 "2003-07-07T01:16:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jojo \* > **Other dangerous animals like deer and cows will only kill you by accident because they are being over-friendly.** Actually, there have been several incidents of cows attacking people walking their dogs (the people’s dogs, that is, not the cows’), and even killing the human. [Here’s one non-fatal, but serious, incident.](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_783572.html?menu=) ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/77 "2003-07-07T01:22:54Z")
Yes a herd of cows can panic but I have also been in dodgy situations with cows not because they are aggressive but because they all crowd round and they all fall over each other and get excitable. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/78 "2003-07-07T01:35:34Z")
[http://www2.southglos.gov.uk/reports/envment/98\_11\_24/item11..htm](http://www2.southglos.gov.uk/reports/envment/98_11_24/item11..htm) > [@](#): > > When contacted recently ADAS where not aware of formally kept statistics on wasp sting fatalities, but a supported view was that in the order of 5-6 deaths due to wasp stings occurred every year. Information from the National Statistics Office shows that deaths from wasps/bee/hornet stings in 1996 was 5 and in 1995 was 3. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/79 "2003-07-07T11:35:13Z")
Here’s some random statistics: 14 people killed by adders in UK since 1876, the last in 1975. Not so dangerous [http://www.medtox.org/info/show.asp?P=7](http://www.medtox.org/info/show.asp?P=7) 10-20 people killed each year in UK in traffic accidents involving deers; 40000 deer-related traffic accidents annually. [http://www.deer-uk.com/Deer%20Dispatch.htm](http://www.deer-uk.com/Deer%20Dispatch.htm) [http://www.dcs.gov.uk/htm/publication/dcfs/dcfs-17.htm](http://www.dcs.gov.uk/htm/publication/dcfs/dcfs-17.htm) Incidentally, the largest predator in Britain is, depending on your definition, either the [badger](http://www.badgerland.co.uk/animals/size.html) (not the [fox](http://212.187.155.84/pass_06june/Subdirectories_for_Search/SpeciesKingdoms/0Families_ACrM_Carnivora/Canidae/Vulpes/Vulpes_vulpes/Vulpes_vulpes.html#Measurement)) or the [sperm whale](http://www.ifawct.org/whaledb/whale10.htm). I am unaware of the number of sperm whale fatalities. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375/80 "2003-07-07T11:37:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jojo \* > \*\*British animals fall into two categories - they are either very friendly or very timid. Bees aren’t timid but they aren’t out to get you either so they fall into the friendly camp. The slightly dangerous ones like badgers and vipers are also very timid so you will never see one. Other dangerous animals like deer and cows will only kill you by accident because they are being over-friendly. > > We don’t seem to have any animals that are both dangerous _and_ unfriendly. \*\* Yes we do; wasps and hornets; they are certainly dangerous (people die from the effects of their venom) and they are neither friendly nor timid. Whilst it is _fairly_ true that wasps will not attack if you leave them alone, the definition of ‘being left alone’ is not the same for a wasp as it is for a human; A person trying to pick up a jam sandwich after it has been noticed by a wasp will be regarded as an aggressor. A line of people walking along a path, passing close by an unseen wasp nest will be regarded as aggressors and may well be attacked. Quite aside from that, I have known people to be stung by wasps without any apparent cause; for example a friend of mine was playing cricket (standing still out in the field at the time) - a wasp landed on his elbow and immediately stung him) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dangerous-wild-animal-in-england/186375.md?page=5)