Question about Southern Continents and Deadly Wildlife Stereotype?

23 comments

1. Because they have deadly wildlife.

2. I must have missed the memo to ignore the yearly massive Siberian wildfires and the yearly wildfires that takes place in the Western USA.

3. United States hazards – a few spiders, a few snakes, and bears and wolves and one big cat species if you’re incredibly unlucky and can’t scare them away

   Australia – even the koalas will kill you. Better not step in the water on a beach, because a flat fish will stab you.

   Africa – everything is big and can kill you. Plus lots of mosquitos. Plus it’s less well-built so things get you faster

   South America – the place is a big jungle with some cities around it. But inside, you have lots of stuff that can and will kill you

4. This is mostly an Australia thing– a reputation for dangerous spiders and reptiles, basically. I guess Africa’s got the big cats.

   Some tropical regions have a reputation for dangerous diseases, but I’d always thought of that as a sanitation and healthcare access issue in lower-income countries rather than a wildlife issue.

5. You mean penguins’ killer reputation is unfounded?

6. This man hasn’t seen the aftermath of a capybara attack.

7. It’s really only Australia. I certainly don’t think of South America as having particularly deadly wildlife. Even Africa, no, not really. Obviously there are dangerous animals that live in those places but that is true for where I live as well. Australia, on the other hand, kind of has a reputation of everything being very poisonous lol.

8. r/askasouthernhemipherian

9. I’m very curious where you heard that Antarctica is known for deadly wildlife.

10. You mean countries that require travel vaccines because the mosquitoes will give tropical diseases?

11. Antarctic has penguins and whales. Most Americans avoid the Antarctic Ocean due to being warm blooded. As for Australia… idk, ask the deadly wildlife.

12. From what I’ve seen it’s mainly just Australia that is the subject of the vast majority of dangerous wildlife….and tbf they do have a shit ton of it.

    I also consider Brazil dangerous because they harbor the Brazilian Wandering Spider, which is one of the most deadly spiders on Earth. ***And it will chase you.***

13. Africa, South America, and Australia are poorly developed across the majority of their land. The deadly megafauna and problematic species of North America, Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia have been largely driven to extinction.

14. This question kinda begs the premise, doesn’t it? I don’t see what it has to do with Americans.

    I don’t think of deadly wildlife when I think “Antarctica”.

15. Because they have far more deadly wildlife than Europe and North America.

    There are lots more poisonous snakes, spiders, and other insects. There are lions and other big cats. There are crocs and hippos and all kinds of other stuff.

    There are deadly animals in northern continents but they aren’s as common. There are poisonous snakes in the US but you don’t run into them that much in a lot of the country. There are bears especially in Canada and some northern parts of the US but a person being attacked by one is extremely rare. We have some other things like cougars and wolves too, but again a human interaction with them that turns violent is extremely rare.

    Hippos, crocs, snakes, tigers, and some other stuff kill people fairly regularly to the degree of thousands a year. To put it in perspective an average year death toll from hippos is more than have ever been recorded killed by Grizzly bears ever.

16. Many subtropical climates have disease infested bugs like mosquitoes. There are also more poisonous species like frogs, spiders, scorpions, snakes, etc. Many areas also have more free wandering animals vs the USA. Monkeys can just drop out of nowhere into your car I suppose in some areas and that’s dangerous and they could steal your phone or wallet ha. Some subtropical areas have massive powerful animals like rhinos, tigers, etc. Fish like piranha.

17. More humans live in the Northern Continents, so we’ve killed them.

18. Africa – Humans evolved there, and as a result, the megafauna is, for the most part, still present (although poaching has definitely taken its toll). Also the large number of venomous creatures and tropical diseases.

    South America – Many habitats with a lot of biodiversity. And, again, large number of venomous snakes and tropical diseases.

    Australia – I thinks its partly because of the fact that a lot of the Australian deadly wildlife is unique to Australia or otherwise is deadly in seemingly odd ways.

    Antarctica – Same as Australia, and the fact that some of the deadly wildlife (e.g., the leopard seal) are just so strange they seem fictional.

19. Deadly wildlife makes for good stories, and those places are too far away to live in and find out that the deadly wildlife isn’t really any worse than in the US.

    Apparently Australia at least gets stories of the scary American wildlife, like rattlesnakes, bears, mountain lions, and wolves.

    Not sure if they’ve heard about our car killing deer, elk, and moose though, or the terrifying Canada geese that inhabit so many beaches.

20. Part of its familiarity, or lack thereof. If you’re used to certain animals then it’s probably not going to cross your mind as much. Asia has some dangerous animals as well, so it’s not just a southern hemisphere thing. That said, some of the most dangerous animals on the planet are found in Australia and Asia.

    Most potent or dangerous snake:

    Australia- The inland taipan has the most toxic snake venom in the world.

    North America- Eastern Diamondback is arguably the largest venomous snake in the world. For that reason, it’s likely the most dangerous snake in North America.

    Central/South America- Fer De Lance has a lethal dose of 50 mg and has an average yield of 105 mg.

    http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/stoneley/strength.htm

21. Because the routinely have the most dangerous animals? The most poisonous snakes, the deadliest insects . . .

22. Probably a lot of animals that aren’t native to our lands. For me, it’s the giant spiders. I’m quite arachnophobic.

23. South America is known for deadly animals?