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).
If you include insects; the housefly.
It’s safe to say that the midge 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.
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…
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).
Bloody Australians.
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.
Yep, three in two years.
Bees are the most dangerous animal on the planet (after humans). Does this not translate to England?
Too lazy to cite.
Well then, there you have it - absent another wild animal with higher stats - the elephants have it
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.
Except maybe a bull. I wouldn’t like to find myself alone in a field with a bull.
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.
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.
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
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.dcs.gov.uk/htm/publication/dcfs/dcfs-17.htm
Incidentally, the largest predator in Britain is, depending on your definition, either the badger (not the fox) or the sperm whale. I am unaware of the number of sperm whale fatalities.
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)