Australian Animal Attacks
If you make a list of all the things that can bite,
sting, injure, attack, eat, or kill you in Australia it becomes
a pretty long list.
Reality is that most Aussies go through a whole life
time without ever coming in to contact with one of those really
nasty things. Your chances of something happening as a tourist in
your short stay here are pretty low, as long as you are sensible
and heed local advice, especially in the north. Below is a selection
of events in which people were not so lucky, but remember you still
have more chance being injured in a car accident than by an Australian
animal. And forget about snakes and spiders being scary, the statistics
below show that the most likely injury is to come from dogs and
horses!
According to statistics from the Victorian Injury
Surveillance Unit, no less than 28,128 Victorians were injured by
animals between July 2004 and June 2007, that is nearly 10 000 a
year.
Almost 7700 Victorians have been taken to hospital during this time
after being attacked by dogs.
Horses were second, killing two people and injuring a further 5628.
Mosquito bites also killed two people and sent 256 more to hospital.
Am amazing 9922 Victorians were hurt by creepy-crawlies, including
spiders, bees, wasps, ticks, ants, centipedes and even scorpions.
Some more unusual statistics: close to 50 Victorians were attacked
by monkeys, family pets such as cats, rabbits and guinea pigs injured
1117 people, and 450 people ended up at a hospital with insects
stuck in eyes, nose or ears.
Chickens injured another 92, and stingrays over 50 people. Six people
had to be treated after encountering ducks and alpacas.
Wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, possums and dingoes were responsible
for attacks on 231 people.
And 1153 Victorians were attacked in their sleep or while resting
or eating.
Ants
Up to 4 cm. in length, Australia's Bulldog Ants are the biggest
ants in the world and can be found in any part of Australia. They
killed a farmer in Victoria in 1988 but this is one of only three
deaths by this species.
Authorities are more worried about the South American fire ant that
has made it into Australia and has been found around Brisbane. Being
very aggressive and having a powerful bite they are considered quite
able to kill people and authorities have gone to considerable trouble
to try and eradicate this ant.
Buffalo attack
The town of Nhulunbuy lies in a remote corner of the Northern Territory
and is surrounded by bush land where wild buffaloes roam free. In
May 2005 a 46 year old man was killed on the town's outskirts by
a wild buffalo when he went for a walk to check the water supply
line to his house. He had his two dogs with him that survived and
returned to the house, which alerted his family that something had
to be wrong. Unfortunately there was a bush fire in the area at
the same time which hindered the search and burned the man's body
before it could be found. Police have started hunting buffaloes
as this was far from the first incident, other people had been attacked,
although nobody had been killed by buffaloes in the town since April
1993.
In September 2007 a 49 year old woman from Melbourne was holidaying
at Peppers Seven Spirit Bay resort on the Cobourg Peninsula and
while she was enjoying a nice stroll along the beach with a couple
of friends a wild buffalo charged them and attacked her. A tourguide
that was with her at the time gave her first aid and she was flown
to Darwin hospital by helicopter.
Box Jellyfish
Photo by Katrin Holmsten
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Stingersuits protect you
from jelly fish stings.
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Box Jellyfish have killed about 60 people in Australia over the
last century.
One was a young boy in Mission Beach early 2003. A family had gone
to the beach for a swim and noticed the stinger net was gone. Presuming
this meant the stinger season was over they happily jumped into
the ocean, not aware the net had been taken away for repairs and
the season was far from over. Their young son was stung and died.
More on box
jellyfish...
Other types of jellyfish nearly disabled the USS Ronald Reagan,
measuring 332 metre it is the world's largest aircraft carrier with
a crew of 6000 and capable of taking on an entire country's army.
But in Brisbane's Moreton Bay this ginormous ship nearly overheated
its engines with Australian jellyfish in large numbers being sucked
up in its cooling system and blocking pipes. A year earlier a huge
P&O cruise liner was also stranded in Brisbane after a school
of jellyfish blocked the engines' water intakes.
Blue Ringed Octopus
Small but nasty creature only a few centimetres in size but can
kill within 12 hours if no medical help is available. Their sting
is very painful but they kill only about one person every 50 years.
Cassowary attacks
Photo by Rob Lapaer of Rainforest
Hideaway B&B, Cape Tribulation, N.Qld.
Standing as tall as a man, a meeting with a cassowary can be quite
intimidating.
Cassowaries can be quite teritorial, even in captivity as a worker
in the San Francisco Zoo found out in February 2001 when a 5 year
old male attacked him and slashed his leg open. Cassowaries are
among the very few birds that can kill a person but the only time
on record that happened was in April 1926 when some boys were hunting
a cassowary near Mossman, North Queensland. The cassowary turned
and chased the boys and one of them, Phillip McClean, fell over
and got his jugular vein on his neck slashed open by the sharp claw
on the cassowary's foot. Tourists from time to time report being
chased or attacked by cassowaries but this is usually due to people,
against all good advice, feeding them so they expect food when they
see people and the next lot doing the right thing and not feeding
him will cause him to be aggressive not getting his expected meal.
More on cassowary attacks....
Cockatoo attacks
Kevin Butler lived in the US with his Aussie cockatoo Bird as a
pet. Kevin was found dead one day in 2002 with multiple stabwounds
and Bird was found dead in the kitchen with a fork in his back and
a leg cut off. Police later charged Daniel Torres with the murder,
having found his DNA in Bird's beak. It turned out that while Daniel
tried to kill Kevin, the Aussie superhero Bird violently pecked
at Daniel's head and clawed at his skin in a desperate effort to
save his owner!
Corella attacks
Though no body has been killed the scenario is eerily similar to
Alfred's Hitchcock's movie 'Birds' ;
In March 2004 thousands of long-billed corellas invaded the town
of Stawell, in Victoria's Wimmera region, and made life hell for
the residents. They squawk morning and night, pollute the rainwater,
destroy native flora, their droppings damage brickwork and tiles,
they eat crops, livestock feed and freshly planted trees, they have
attacked Stawell's church spire, at the local abattoir they started
a fire after chewing the wires of a transformer and others caused
a blackout at the local sports stadium by chewing through the lighting
cable.
Residents are fed up and shotgun fire can be heard at night, scarecrows
and fake hawks failed to deter the corellas. Victoria's Department
of Sustainability and Environment has had a trapping and gassing
program in place for the past 12 years, but only applies it on request
and the nets used to catch the birds only trap up to 200 at a time,
making little impact on the huge population.
Crocodile attacks
On average only one person a year is killed by a crocodile in Australia,
in comparison three people a year die from bee stings, and thousands
from smoking and car accidents so as long as you take some sensible
precautions there is no need to worry on your Australian holiday.
Most crocodile attacks occur between late September and January
when crocodiles are hungry after the dry season and are preparing
to breed.
Crocodiles are capable of biting with a force of a tonne per square
inch, believed to be more powerful than the jaws of the legendary
Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur!
There was a bit of a peak in crocodile attacks in 2005 when from
late August to early October three people were killed and one girl
injured.
In April 2004 11 year old girl Hannah Thompson went for a swim
near the top of Cape York Peninsula at Margaret Bay when she was
attacked by a 3.3 metre long crocodile. The animal grabbed her by
the arm but luckily a small boat with long time crocodile hunter
Ray Turner was next to them and, like a real life Crocodile Dundee,
the 57 year old man dived on to the back of the crocodile and gouged
the reptile in its left eye. This prompted the croc to let go of
the girl but he kept circling the boat after the attack. Ray then
delivered the girl and the rest of the group to Haggerstone Island
from where she was airlifted to Thursday Island Hospital with deep
puncture wounds in her lower arm. Hannah lost her watch in the attack
but was recovering well in hospital. More
on crocodile attacks...
October 2004; A group of three Brisbane families were on their
annual 4WD camping holiday to far north Queensland where every year
for the past five years they had camped at Bathurst Bay, about 250
km. north of Cooktown.
Diane and Andrew Kerr and their three month old baby were sleeping
in their tent on the beach when they were woken up by a noise, Diane
looked through the netting of the tent and said; there's a croc!
As Andrew rose the 4.2 metre crocodile lunged forward, grabbed him
by the legs and started dragging him away. His concern was still
with the baby that slept in the tent with them and while he was
in the crocodile's jaws he kept yelling 'GET THE BABY! GET THE BABY!'
His wife grabbed the cot with the baby in one hand and held on to
her husband's hand with the other but the 300 kg. crocodile continued
to drag him outside the tent. 60 year old grandmother Alicia Sorohan
and her husband Bill were camping nearby and when they heard the
screams they rushed over to find their friend Andrew being dragged
towards the sea. The supergranny then leaped on the crocodile's
head, causing him to let go of Andrew but now the crocodile turned
on her, grabbing her by the arm. Fortunately Alicia's son Jason
had now appeared on the scene who had a gun and he shot the crocodile
through the head. They then set off a rescue beacon that alerted
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers in the area who sent
a helicopter to evacauate them to an airport from where the Royal
FLying Doctors could fly them to Cairns hospital. Andrew had injuries
to his legs and body and was believed to be in a serious condition,
while Alicia had injuries to her arm and upper body and face. The
male crocodile was estimated to be about fifty years old.
More crocodile attacks....
Dingo attacks
In august 1980 the Chamberlain family went camping at Ayers Rock.
This turned into the camping trip from hell went nine month old
baby Azaria disappeared from the tent. Mother Lindy claimed a dingo
had dragged the baby away but (as this had never happened before)
authorities did not believe her and after two years of courtcases
convicted her to life imprisonment for the murder of her daughter.
More on dingo attacks....
Eel attacks
Several people have reported a giant eel in the Yarra river near
Warburton. He is reported to have taken a Jack Russel dog, a goose
that someone was feeding at the time, and a fisherman was dragged
into the water in April 2005 by something huge and unknown, most
like the giant eel.
Falcon attacks
Brisbane bird Frodo is a celebrity Peregrine Falcon who lives on
city apartment building Admiralty Towers and was live on-line on
a webcam set up by the Courier Mail during the hatching and raising
his young with his partner Frieda.
However, managers of the building have been receiving regular complaints
during the 2004 nesting season because Frodo has been swooping on
residents, passing by their heads at high speed and even attacked
26th-floor resident Jan Erdem on her balcony and cut her head with
his sharp claws. Maintenance work and window cleaning on the top
part of the building is now scheduled to be done outside nesting
season.
Groper attacks
Gropers, despite their size, do not attack people but Swedish scuba
diver Andre Ronnlund diving on Australia's Great Barrier Reef had
an interesting experience when locally well known 7ft groper Grumpy
sucked his head in and then spat him out again. He said he blacked
out for a bit and lost his diving mask and it was squeezing pretty
hard but apart from some cuts to his neck and bruising he was OK
and managed to swim back to the boat without help.
Kangaroo attacks
Kangaroo attack
Steven Shorten, 13, was enjoying a game of golf at the Grafton
District Golf Club. He hit a ball a bit off course and went looking
for it but when he left the golfcourse and stepped into bushland
he got attacked by a 1.5 metre high kangaroo that grabbed and repeatedly
jumped on him, resulting in massive facial wounds and cuts to his
abdomen, back and legs. His father Rodney Shorten sued the golf
club.
More on kangaroo
attacks....
Koala attacks
In May 2005 Tommy Stephenson was attacked by a koala in Melbourne.
This was a highly unusual occurence as koalas are normally peaceful
vegetarian animals. The koala had descended from its tree and badly
scratched Tommy's leg, who received some bandages and a tetanus
shot but was otherwise OK.
Magpie attacks
Photo by Simon Monk from Cairns
This bird is common throughout Australia and best known for its
melodious song, typically heard at dawn. They also have a nasty
habit of swooping on unsuspecting visitors that come too close to
their nests during the nesting season from August to October.
One such attack occurred in a park in Canberra in October 2000 when
four year old Jennelle Ferry was hit in her right eye by a magpie
and was permanently blinded, later the Supreme Court ordered the
local council that owned the park to pay $172,000 in compensation.
A 51 year old man was cycling across Tom's Bridge north of Morwel
in Melbourne and crashed his bicycle after a magpie attacked him.
An ambulance took him to the Latrobe Regional Hospital where he
remained with serious head injuries in a critical condition. A year
before a 74 year old Mildura man died after a magpie attack in which
he received a serious eye injury.
If you want to minimize the risk of being attacked riding your
bike around Melbourne, there is a website step-hen.com/magpie
where you can find where the magpies nest and avoid these places.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment says magpies swoop
in spring to protect their chicks and territory, and they suggest
travelling in a group or avoiding certain areas.
Parasitic bush ticks
Out of all the world's ticks the most infectious, loves human blood
but kills only about one person every five years.
Pig attacks
Opinions are divided on how pigs arrived in Australia, some say
James Cook brought them in, others think Indonesians or New Guineans
would have brought them in. Whatever it is, they are a huge problem
now causing massive destruction. They are thought to number about
23 million and they are growing bigger and moving in to the suburbs.
Rod McKechnie from Redlynch in Cairns was lucky he had a shovel
in his hands to defend himself when he was charged by a 60kg feral
pig at the local playground in Redlynch. Around the same time Wayne
Haldane has shot a 270 kg monster near his home in Kennedy, north
of Cardwell. Feral pigs are now on a regular basis destroying gardens
and lawns in Cairns and other north Queensland towns.
Ram attack
In June 1994 Denise Bryan was working at the Arid Zone Research
Institute in Alice Springs when she was butted from behind by a
70kg ram. She was thrown several meters away and then spent another
half hour calling for help as the ram he ram stood over her.
The ram had escaped from a fenced area that belonged to the Northern
Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission and they ended up paying,
after a lenghty court case, nearly $1.3 million in compensation.
Sea lion attacks
In April 2007 thirteen year old Ella Murphy was standing on her
surfboard tow-surfing behind a boat near Lancelin, north of Perth.
Unexpectedly a 300kg sea lion burst out from the water, grabbed
her by the head and knocked her off her surf board. As she lay in
the water the monster seemed to be preparing for a second charge
but the driver of the boat managed to put the boat between her and
the sea lion.
Ella ended up with a broken jaw, a big wound under her chin, and
three missing teeth.
Sea Snake Attacks
A two-year old girl was playing in shallow water at a beach in
Yeppoon, near Mackay when a 1.6m Stokes' sea snake wrapped itself
around her leg and bit her repeatedly; quick action by her mother
and expert medical care, saved the child's life.
Sea Wasps
See Box Jelly Fish above
Shark attacks
Although Australian statistics show an average of only one death
a year by shark attack, in September 2000 two surfers were killed
in separate shark attacks about 200 kilometers apart in the space
of two days.
New Zealander Cameron Bayes, 25, was killed by a Great White about
four meters (13 feet) long at Cactus Beach, about 600 km west of
Adelaide, an area nicknamed Shark Restaurant because of the frequent
shark sightings.
Local Jevan Wright, 17, was killed the following day, two friends
who were out on the waves with him at Black Point, near Elliston,
were uncertain what type of shark ripped the teenager from his board,
seeing only the tail, but believe it was also a Great White, a protected
species in Australia. More
on shark attacks....
Snake attacks
A python getting some dinner organized
Snakes do not normally attack people and will even try to get out
of their way but sometimes people and snakes meet accidentally and
then the snake might feel the need to defend itself, most people
only get bitten because they are trying to catch or kill the snake.
Statistics show that about 300 people a year need anti-venom and
only two or three a year actually die from snakebite, compared to
other causes of death like trafffic, smoking etc. a pretty low number.
Glenn "Shorty" Butler from Alice Springs was unfortunately
one of those two or three a year.
In October 2006 he went to the dunny of his Alice Springs home and
a snake, probably a western brown, was in there and Shorty stepped
on his neck so the snake bit him. He was taken to hospital where
he spent some time on life support before passing away.
More on snake
attacks....
Spiders
Like with most animals spiders will only bite in self defence so
there is not much to worry about, out of Australia's 1400 different
spiders only two are considered poisonous; the Redback and the Funnelweb.
There is anti-venin available for both now, before this was developed
each type of spider has killed only about 13 people since European
settlement.
Stingray attacks
Stingrays do not really attack, they lash out with the tail that
carries a nasty barb in self defence, either when you step on them
in shallow water, or swim over them and scare them. This is what
happened in the most famous stingray incident of all times when
in 2006 world famous wildlife warrior (and harrasser) Steve Irwin
swam over a decent sized stingray at Batt Reef near Port Douglas
and it lashed out and whacked a barb into his chest that punctured
his heart which killed him in no time at all at the age of 44.
Stingray incidents did not really make the news normally but in
Victoria they have about 17 people a year on average seeking treatment
after a stingray encounter.
Only two other sting ray deaths have been recorded in Australia;
a soldier died in 1945 at St Kilda baths from a 7.6 cm. deep barb
in his chest, and in in 1988 three boating friends were hit by a
stingray jumping from the water. One of them, a 12 year-old boy,
received a wound resembling a bullet wound, was treated and had
appeared to recover, but six days later died when poison from the
barb killed off heart tissue.
World wide there have been only about 20 reports of deaths from
stingrays, as long as you don't have the misfortune that the barb
punctures your chest or heart the poison is not strong enough to
kill you and will only cause pain, which can be relieved with hot
water.
Stingrays can make some wild moves sometimes, early 2008 a woman
was killed in Florida when a stingray leaped from the ocean, accidentally
impacted with the woman on a boat, and she got knocked over and
hit her head and died.
Stonefish
If you think you might just go for a walk on the beach as the water
is too full of nasties think again, there is also a creature known
as 'stonefish', so called because they resemble a stone lying in
shallow water and when you step on them their sharp spines inject
a toxin in to you that causes extreme pain that will only subside
while you hold the affected limb in hot water. There is also a freshwater
variety of this fish in the rivers and lakes called a bullrout.
Trigger Fish
Early 2003 some tourists snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef were
attacked an bitten by a school of trigger fish. They lost a few
chunks of meat and survived but the media went into a frenzy making
it sound like this was a saltwater version of the South American
piranha that had entered Australian waters and was going to spread
like the cane toads. Later it became clear that trigger fish are
a native Australian fish that is a bit territorial, especially when
it is breeding season and they have their young to protect and the
snorkelers must have strayed into their territory.
Wombat attacks
In 1993 naturalist Harry Frauca received a bite 2 cm deep into
the flesh of his leg, right through his rubber boot, trousers and
thick woollen socks.
In a different incident a young boy entered an enclosure to feed
a wombat at a caravan park, he was charged, knocked over, bitten,
and scratched all over.
Have you heard of, or experienced, an amazing Australian
animal attack? Then tell us !
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