ANIMALS The most dangerous animals in France are not necessarily the ones you think… Discover the animals (often tiny) that cause the most death and injuries each year in mainland France and overseas.
The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is a deer living in forests. — WildMedia/Shutterstock
The Deer
This deer won’t bite you! However, he is responsible for many road accidents in France (along with deer and wild boar, he is involved in 60,000 collisions per year). While the shock itself can be deadly, the deer’s clear disadvantage is being high on its legs. It therefore risks striking the windshield of the vehicle, which could injure or kill its driver or passenger.
The dog
Dogs can be adorable, but sometimes they’re killers. We have identified about thirty deaths by dog bites in France over the past 20 years. That’s a tiny fraction of the number of hospitalizations due to man’s best friend: several thousand each year. In young children, the injuries are more serious, more numerous and often located in the head and neck area, which explains why two-thirds of fatal cases occur in children under 15 years old.
There are about 7.5 million dogs in France. – dezy/Shutterstock
La physalia
This strange floating animal is not a jellyfish but a colony of organisms supported by a 10 to 8 float. 20 cm the surface of the sea. Usually inhabiting tropical waters, it can sometimes run aground en masse on the European coasts, particularly in Aquitaine. Above all, do not touch it: the animal is poisonous up to the point of death. two months after his death! And its venom is dangerous to humans. It causes intense pain and can even kill me. Two cases of fatal stings have been reported. listed.
The physalia is also called sea bladder or Portuguese galley. – DZiegler/Shutterstock
Ticks
There are 41 species of ticks in France. These small mite arachnids of 3 & 6 mm on average have an oval body and an extended head with a snout equipped with a snout. two appendages called chelicerae that end in hooks. The tick uses it to cling to mammals, sucking in the warm blood of its host for nourishment. Although this parasite is not fatal in itself, it can transmit many pathogens to humans when it bites them, including Lyme disease, and even neurotoxins potentially responsible for paralysis. Populating in all environments, ticks bite an average of 30,000 people per year in France.
Ticks belong to the class Arachnids, such as spiders and scorpions. – Sandra Huber/Shutterstock
Mosquitoes
If they are all right Harmless to humans in themselves, mosquitoes can be very annoying. But above all, they are important vectors of diseases which are very deadly. Mosquitoes are indirectly the deadliest animals in the world, claiming 725,000 new victims of malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis and more every year. The tiger mosquito, present in mainland France, can carry dengue fever and chikungunya, two tropical diseases that can cause death (about one case per 1000).
Despite their small size, mosquitoes are indirectly the deadliest animals in the world – Shutterstock
The World of Animals & de la nature is a quarterly magazine. – Le Monde des Animaux n°42
Find the magazine “Le Monde des Animaux” on newsstands and on monmag.fr (paper and digital versions, and subscriptions).
Le Monde des Animaux & de la Nature is a magazine dedicated to to wildlife and wild flora from around the world. À Through captivating stories and sublime photographs, the magazine offers a real visual safari in the heart of nature.