# The most dangerous animal in Africa



## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

I'm a frequent visitor to Africa and could sit watching wild game to the end of my days. I've often got closer than was wise to some beautiful creatures and as docile and placid as they appear, they can be very dangerous when crossed. Fortunately, I've learnt to spot the danger signals and I've also been lucky.

There are many opinions about which is the most dangerous animal - a rampaging elephant is not to be messed with, a charging buffalo has just one thing on it's mind and hippo are deadly when you enter their world.

So there's a free round of applause for the first person to name the most dangerous animal in Africa.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Man 

responsible for more death and destruction than all the others on the continent combined including destroying other members of their own species.


They also prey on most of the other inhabitants on the continent for whatever they want without any thought about the consequences of such actions.

Dave


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Buffalo.

Hippo.

I heard both but the Treetops guy said Buffalo, Alan.


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## Hezbez (Feb 7, 2009)

Hippo I was told.
When you see an adult male come lumbering out of the water you realise just how solid they are. Saw loads of them at Amboseli, quite a sight.


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Mosquito, if it can be classed as an animal.

Pete


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## trevorf (May 16, 2005)

I would also say Mosquito. Responsible for more deaths than any other creature on the continent due to Malaria. 



Trevor


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

On safari in kenya the guide said hippo if he decides to live in a spot might as well move cos he ain't gonna


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

That'll be a standing ovation for Pete but a debateable tie with Dave.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

It has got to be man if only due to the fact that man has evolved from spear throwing to more ingenious ways of killing.
Animal instincts have not evolved to the same degree.

dave p


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Unfortunately I think man

but would you not have thought we would have learnt by now???

when our world is rapidly disappearing

but then again people are fighting back

all is not lost

Aldra


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

aldra said:


> but then again people are fighting back
> 
> Aldra


hhmm, Devil's Advocate suggests that the fighting is the cause for man's reputation as the biggest destroyer the planet has ever known........

Malaria is a big problem but continuing my Devil's Advocate role it is NOT caused by the (female) _Anopheles_ mosquito -the one that spreads the parasite that causes the disease - _Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparium (the worst offender), P. ovale or P. malariae_ Interestingly, (well to me anyway  :lol: ) the male Anopheles mosquito feeds on plants. You can tell the difference between _Anopheles _and _Culex_ by the way it stands - _Culex_ has the abdomen parallel to the skin, _Anopheles _has it more or less vertical to the skin (OK I will admit to being a geek! :lol: )

Malaria is estimated to be responsible for 655,000 deaths in 2010 (source = World Health Organisation)

so _Plasmodium falciparium_ is probably the most deadly and and dangerous animal - and it is a tiny little beast so I will bow to Pete's comments and deflect it slightly onto the cause of Malaria - Plasmodium species of Protoctists.......

If you wish to check;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria

(It used to be part of the A level biology syllabus and fascinated me....) :roll: 

Dave :lol: :lol:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

No Penguin

still go for man

nothing has ever developed the potential for wholesale destruction

but nothing has ever developed the potential to save the world we inhabit

I am betting on the latter

aldra


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Mugabe?


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

The Locust


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Having looked up several definitions of the word animal it seems the mosquito does qualify. Live and learn, Alan.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Erneboy,

I concede

Will we ever be able to control it/

great inroads have been made

Maybe one day

Aldra


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

erneboy said:


> Having looked up several definitions of the word animal it seems the mosquito does qualify. Live and learn, Alan.


We will have to be very careful not to descend into semantics over this - the big problem is that classification has changed since it was invented (if that is the right term) by Carl Von Linne (also known as Linnaeus).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Linnaeus

He originally suggested that everything would be put into one of 2 groups; animalia or plantae - but that lead to problems

then we had more groups added to give a 5 kingdom classification;

Plantae, animalae, prokaryotes, fungi and protoctista (formerly termed protozoa but the name was changed as it links too closely to animals....)

the mosquitoes are certainly animals; Phylum Arthropoda, Class Insecta and so on (no point going too far :lol: )

but the Plasmodium parasites that they transport (see my answer earlier) are NOT animals and are Protoctists.......

so the Mosquito - Anopholes sp. are the vectors for the disease - they spread it but do not cause it (that is down to Plasmodium).....

but now even that classification is being thrown into disrepute by molecular biology and currently a seven kingdom classification is being widely talked about..... :roll: amongst those in the know.........

but I am not going to argue too many points......

mosquitoes are certainly responsible for spreading the malarial parasite - agreed

they are responsible for causing a massive death toll - agreed

there seems little to argue about there then - agreed

will we ever control them? Unlikely as they are only one link in a complex chain and sadly as we have seen elsewhere eliminating one link in a chain has massive repercussions elsewhere.......

we only have to look at what has happened since man set out to destroy the rabbit population using Myxamatosis (spelling?) and the problems that has caused with the food chains and the migration of foxes for instance and the shift of their feeding patterns onto other animals to recognise that eliminating one species has effects that we cannot (or will not) predict.......

So let's declare it over - mosquitoes = man in terms of problems with just a tad more for the mossies........

end of discussion?

Dave :lol: :lol:


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Yada. yada, I still won the quiz, right?

:lol: :lol: 

Pete


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

peejay said:


> Yada. yada, I still won the quiz, right?
> 
> :lol: :lol:
> 
> Pete


.......... and got 3 curtain calls!


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