What can kill you in Australia?

Elisa
Oct 5, 2018
3 min read

Let's talk about animals in Australia. A lot of you may have heard that Australia is home to list of different and unique variety of animals, birds, reptiles and insects. This country has a pretty bad reputation for its deadly animals. It has more venomous snakes than any other continent, 21 of the world’s 25 deadliest in fact.

Roughly 140 species of land snakes and 32 species of sea snakes have been identified here. Not that you only have to be conscious about every bush you step in, but you also have to worry about the waters (don't forget saltwater crocodiles, rays, jellyfish and other creatures that can also cause problems in there). Of these roughly 170 species, 100 of them are venomous, but despite this large number, only 12 are likely to cause a wound that can kill.

Here you can found over 2,400 species of spider. Less than 50 of them are harmful to humans. Less than 50! Oh what a relief! For me, it doesn't sound good at all. I come from a country where there is only one partly poisonous snake, so you can imagine how paranoid I was arriving at Kingdom of poisonous fauna. I checked toilet seat before using it, carefully inspected door knobs, before touching them and always shake out my shoes before putting them on. I was praying not to be killed in those two weeks in here (I know I know... I exaggerated). But to be clear - it is possible to meet those lovely, deadly creatures everywhere - even in very urban areas.

There is a local joke that says the Daddy Long Legs (spider) is the country's most poisonous spider. This myth is still unsubstantiated as it has a jaw that cannot open wide enough to bite people! I didn't find that funny at all...

Another joke is: "Coming to Australia may kill you!"

HA HA HA!

But back to our trip...

A lot of you probably remembers a guy called The Crocodile Hunter - Steve Irwin. He dedicated his life to save animals and taking care of them. He introduced society with all the incredible fauna that there is in Australia (especially with the poisonous or deadly) and appreciated every live soul that there is. I grew up with his shows and learned a lot about this fearless guy.

It was a huge shock to most of us when he passed away. Irwin died at 44, after being pierced in the heart by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary film titled "Ocean's Deadliest".

Of course we really wanted to see the famous Australia Zoo owned by Irwins family.

We stayed in a small town called Burpengary on the North from Brisbane. Our host - very interesting personality - Scott owned two beautiful dogs and a snake who I even pet a little bit (I had to beat my fear and it's better to start with snakes that only can choke you not sting you to death).

We went to The Zoo on an early morning, just to spend the maximum time there. There is a free bus operating from Beerwah train station during the day.

We bought our tickets online just to save a couple of dollars and skip the lines (a lot of people were waiting for the opening).

We got our Zoo maps and decided which animal shows we will attend. The most important was the big crocodile show in Crocoseum and as the second we choose koala show. According to the times when the shows happened, we decided to see as much as possible around the Zoo.

Although I am not a big fan of animals being captive and living in the cages, for some of the species there is no other way. A lot of endangered animals live safely in here.

Zoo doesn't seem crazy huge, but it is well maintained and actively expanding. There is special place for each animal. There are also a lot of souvenir stores, food court and a playground. It is a great one day activity.

We really enjoyed the day in The Zoo. At the same time, it was bittersweet for me just to feel Steves presence in every corner, but know that he couldn't continue his work.

Anyway, I highly recommend visiting this place. See the Tasmanian devil, dingo dogs and of course kangaroos. They are absolutely gorgeous animals.