Most Dangerous Animals In Africa

Venomous snake bites take their heaviest toll in Africa. National Geographic reports the continent sees 500,000 people bitten by poisonous snakes per year, leading to about 30,000 deaths. Now while all venomous snakes are dangerous, there is none more dangerous in Africa than the Black Mamba. Mambas are a species of elapids, which also include cobras. These types of snakes deliver neurotoxins and cardiotoxins to their victims, which block the transmission of nerve signals and stops the heart. This paralyzes the respiratory system making it impossible to breathe. 

The Black Mamba is a particularly deadly elapid. As recorded by National Geographic these snakes, which are up to 14-feet long, will raise themselves off the ground when threatened, spread their cobraesque hood, and strike multiple times delivering their extremely potent poison. If antivenom is not administered immediately, the death rate is near 100%. Usually, a person only has 20 minutes to live.

Part of the problem in Africa is that even though the continent has a large and diverse population of venomous snakes, its access to antivenom is low. This is because of the economics of antivenoms. To produce a Black Mamba antivenom, you need to actually extract the venom of the serpent and then it needs to be highly processed in a lab environment. This is extremely expensive, and countries in Africa typically do not have the monetary resources to maintain a large and ready supply of antivenom.

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