A new classification has evaluated the dangerousness of different animal species according to the size of their population and the number of human deaths they cause.
- The Crespo scale, named after its inventor, classifies animals according to their danger for humans according to their population and the number of deaths they cause.
- This objective method reveals that mosquitoes, Russell viper, blood moat and stray dogs are among the most threatening, especially in developing countries.
- Domestic animals and humans have been excluded from the study. Some results surprise, such as the position at the bottom of the classification of the Asian giant hornet.
Wild beasts, insects … human beings share the planet with a multitude of fascinating species, some harmless, others more formidable. But how to objectively measure the threat that an animal represents for humans? A new scientific evaluation method, called “Crespo scale”, tried to answer this question in a study published in theAsian Journal of Research in Zoology and spotted by the media Ifl Science.
A scientific approach to animal danger
Invented by researcher David Duarte Crespo, this unprecedented scale classifies species according to their potential danger for an average individual in a given country. Unlike other more subjective rankings, it is based on two measurable criteria: the size of the population of a species and its mortality rate with regard to humans. The first criterion considers the probability of a human to meet the animal in question, while the second is calculated by dividing the world’s population (8 billion souls) by the maximum estimated number of deaths caused by the species each year.
The Crespo scale uses a system of five degrees of danger, ranging from “Very unlikely” (1) “Very likely” (5). By multiplying these scores, we obtain a classification ranging from 1 to 5, of low danger to very high danger. Only species with sufficient data have been included in this analysis, and domestic animals have been voluntarily excluded from the classification, like the human, which remains the most predatory animal on earth.
Mosquitoes with stray dogs
Unsurprisingly, the mosquito (Anopheles Gambiae) is by far the animal that kills the most humans on the planet, especially in Africa where they transmit malaria, dengue or even large -scale chikungunya. The number 1 public enemy would thus be at the origin of 725,000 to 1 million deaths per year in the world – is much more than human beings towards their fellows (if we only take into account the 431,000 victims of homicides each year, and not all the deaths due to conflicts or natural disasters linked to climatic disruption).
Another threatening species, Russell’s viper (Russelii daboia), especially present in South Asia, is one of the rare poisonous predators to be included in categories 3 to 5. Just below are the moat of blood (Schistosoma Mansoni), fatal parasites responsible notably for bilharziosis, a disease affecting millions of people. In fourth position then come wild and wandering dogs: as the main vectors of rage, they represent a major threat for the one of which he is supposed to be the best friend, especially in developing countries.
Note that the results of the study revealed some surprises. For example, the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), despite its frightening reputation and its presence in densely populated countries like Japan, reaches only a score of 1. proof that the greatest animal threats for humans are not always those that we imagine.
