DANGEROUS ANIMALS

Discussion Questions

1. What is your favourite animal? Why?

2. If you could own any animal as a pet, what pet would you like to have and why?

3. Is there any animal that really terrifies you?

4. Which animal do you think is the most dangerous to humans?

5. Do you know anyone who has had an encounter with a dangerous animal?

6. Discuss what do you think of when you hear this sound?

Dangerous Animals

Usually when we think of dangerous or deadly animals, our initial thoughts are of animals with big teeth or sharp claws such sharks, lion or tigers.

Today we are going to look at some animals that you may be surprised to learn are some of the world’s deadliest.

Do you have any predictions about some of the animals we are going to talk about today?

Do you have any predictions about the countries these deadly animals may be found in?

Blue Ringed Octopus

The Blue Ringed Octopus is one of the deadliest animals in the ocean. Mainly found in Australia, in shallow coastal waters, there have been dozens of reported bites and several deaths. Typically, the victim either picks this animal up or inadvertently contacts it. Bites are usually reported as not being painful and most people are unaware of being bitten which can sometimes make it difficult for medical staff to find out why a patient is in distress.

Depending on how much of this animal’s neurotoxin has entered the person’s wound, patients can suffer from symptoms that include nausea and vomiting, difficulty breathing, problems with vision and speaking difficulties. In severe cases, paralysis and respiratory failure can lead to death.

Without question, the mosquito is the world’s deadliest animal. Mosquitoes and the diseases that they can spread are responsible for killing more people than that of all the wars in history.

Around 200 million people are infected annually with diseases such as Malaria, Yellow Fever and Dengue Fever. From Malaria infections alone, there are around 3 million deaths per year.

There are many ways to prevent mosquito bites such as avoiding areas where mosquitoes are known to be populous, taking medication to prevent infection in Malaria prone areas, using insect repellent and sleeping under a mosquito net.

Mosquito

BoxJellyfish

The Australian Box Jellyfish is considered to be the most venomous marine animal in the world. Named because of its box shape, this invertebrate is about 20 centimetres long with up to 15 tentacles on each corner of its body which can be as long as 3 metres. Each of these tentacles has about 5000 stinging cells, loaded with poison. If any part of one of these tentacles comes into contact with an animal or human, the sting is extremely painful.

People unfortunate enough to be injected with this venom can experience paralysis, cardiac arrest and even death within minutes of being stung. Luckily, of the 50 or so species of box jellyfish, there are only a few with venom which is lethal to humans.

PoisonDart Frog

These small, vibrantly coloured frogs may seem cute but they are extremely toxic. There are around 100 varieties of these frogs which vary in colour and pattern. Their beautiful colours are used as a warning to potential predators that they are poisonous.

These amphibians live mainly in Central and South America. They got the name poison dart frog because hunters would use their poison on the tips of arrows when hunting large animals.

The venom of this animal is found in its skin so people can be easily exposed to its toxins. There are however, only three species of these frogs that are harmful to humans.

Puffer Fish

The puffer fish is a medium sized fish, also commonly called a toadfish or blowfish, which lives in tropical coastal waters all over the world. This fish has an incredible ability to expand the size of its body when it faces danger. It does this to appear bigger and to expose the poisonous spikes that cover its body. If an animal is not scared away by this defence system, it will meet a nasty end, either due to the toxic venom from its spikes or the toxin that is released from its organs when it dies.

Despite having such deadly venom, there are some species that are eaten in Japan and Korea as a delicacy. Chefs need to be specially trained on how to cut the fish so that it does not poison or harm anyone eating it.

Cone Snail

Humans are often intrigued by the beautiful colours and patterns of the cone shell which can lead to them being picked up and people then being envenomed. The snail inside, injects its venom into its prey by firing out a hollow and barbed harpoon which is strong enough to penetrate the skin, sometimes even wetsuits or gloves.

The sting from many of the smaller species may be no worse than a bee sting but the sting from a larger fish eating species can have fatal consequences for humans. Symptoms of a sting can include numbness, tingling and vomiting and in very severe cases, muscle paralysis and respiratory failure.

Vocabulary Match

1. Shallow (adjective)2. Inadvertently (adverb)3. Distress (noun)4. Neurotoxin (noun)5. Wound (noun)6. Prone (adjective)7. Repellent (noun)8. Invertebrate (noun)

a. An injury where the skin is broken such as a cut

b. Pain, sadness or anxiety

c. Likely to happen

d. An animal lacking a backbone

e. Water that is not deep

f. A substance that deters insects from approaching

g. Accidentally

h. A type of poison that affects the nervous system

Vocabulary Match

9. Paralysis (noun)10. Lethal (adjective)11. Vibrant (adjective)12. Amphibian (noun)13. Delicacy (noun)14. Intrigued (adjective)15. Barbed (adjective)16. Tingling (noun)

i. Bright and striking

j. Fascinated by something

k. Containing spikes or irregular points

l. A slight stinging sensation, usually on the skin

m. The inability to move a part or most of the body

n. Something rare or expensive to eat

o. Sufficient to cause death

p. A cold blooded animal able to live in water and on land

VocabularySpeaking Practice

Practise your speaking and comprehension of the vocabulary by using these words in sentences;

1. Prone

2. Distress

3. Intrigued

Discussion Questions

1. Which of the animals were you most surprised to see in today’s lesson?

2. Which of the animals from the lesson would you be most afraid of encountering?

3. Have you seen, read or heard of any stories of people who have had a dangerous encounter with these or other animals?

4. Do you know of any advice given to people in the event that they do come across a dangerous wild animal?

Lesson Wrap–Up VideoToday, we are going to look at a video about the story of Christian the lion.

Watch the video and discuss what you think will happen after he (Christian the Lion) meets his previous owners after a year of him being in the wild.

Lesson Wrap–Up Video

Now let´s see what happened when they were all reunited

Are you surprised by what you saw in the video?