When asked to identify the world's most dangerous creature, some people might say the lion or the tiger. Others might guess that the shark is the deadliest beast. But they would all be wrong. There is another, more dangerous creature that has killed far more people than any of these animals. The box jellyfish is among the deadliest creatures of the seas. Also known as a sea wasp, this animal has venom that can easily kill a human. In fact, about a hundred people around the world die every year from box jellyfish stings. Box jellyfish can sting you in shallow water and they can sting you on dry land. So be careful where you step next time you're walking on a beach! Killer creatures can come in small packages, like the golden poison dart frog. Found in Colombia, these bright little creatures can fit on the palm of your hand. But if you actually held one, you'd be dead in a matter of minutes. Just one of these little frogs carries enough poison to kill up to 20 humans. Then there's the hippopotamus, or "hippo" for short. Hippos are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Many view these giant plant-eaters as cute and passive, but in reality, they're very dangerous. Some researchers have called hippos the most aggressive animals on Earth. Even lions and crocodiles realize the danger and tend to avoid hippos in the wild. Hippo attacks are believed to result in around 500 deaths every year in Africa. But none of these animals are the deadliest. That title belongs to none other than human beings. Through murder, violence, and war, we have killed more people than any other animal has. It is estimated that during the 20th century alone, up to 188 million people were killed in various wars. It's hard for any hippo, jellyfish, or dart frog to compete with that sad statistic.
被問及何謂世上最危險的生物，不少人可能都會回答獅子或老虎。有些則會猜想鯊魚才是最致命的野獸。其實不然，還有比上述動物奪走更多人命的危險生物。 箱型水母名列最致命的海洋生物。擁有「海蜂」別稱的箱型水母，毒液可讓人類迅速死亡。事實上，每年世界各地均有大約一百人受到箱型水母螫刺而死亡。箱型水母可能出沒於淺水區或是陸地，螫刺人類。因此漫步海灘時，請當心腳下！ 有些殺手級生物體積嬌小，例如金色箭毒蛙。棲息於哥倫比亞的鮮豔箭毒蛙只有巴掌大。倘若真的手捧一隻箭毒蛙，不到幾分鐘就會命喪黃泉。因為箭毒蛙的小小身軀，居然容納了足以毒死20人的毒液。 接下來是棲息於撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲地區的河馬。很多人覺得這些草食性的龐然大物十分可愛慵懶，但其實河馬是相當危險的生物。部分研究人員稱河馬為「地表最具侵略性的動物」。連獅子和鱷魚都曉得其危險，因而對野生河馬退避三舍。據說非洲每年發生將近500 起遭到河馬攻擊的死亡事件。 但是，上述動物都還不是最致命的生物。人類才是當之無愧的殺手級生物。謀殺、暴力與戰爭所殘殺的人數，超越任何動物的致死率。光是20 世紀，就有高達1 億8 千8 百萬人死於各種戰事。無論是河馬、水母或是箭毒蛙，均難以匹敵如此令人哀傷的統計數據。 | 
沒有留言:
張貼留言