What Animals Kill the Most Humans in Florida?

Animal attacks on humans are incidents that usually make news headlines. For that reason, people often believe that the chances of being killed by an animal are much higher than they actually are. Animals do cause some fatalities, however, and the residents of Florida live with some of the bigger and menacing species.

  1. Alligators

    • In Florida, alligator attacks increased recently because of a growing population of both humans and the reptile within the state. Humans intruding on alligators' natural habitat brought the two species closer together. For example, attacks have occurred on golf courses built over everglades. In 60 years, alligators killed 18 people in Florida, according to Word Press. Tampa Bay Online states that alligators caused nine deaths from 2000 to 2006.

    Dogs

    • On Word Press's list of American human deaths caused by animals, dog attack fatalities are the second most common with 31 deaths per year. This high number is because of people keeping some of the more aggressive dog species, such as pit bulls and rottweilers, as household pets. Tampa Bay Online also indicates that between 1990 and 2010 in Florida, dog attacks caused seven fatalities. Most of these deaths were children.

    Shark

    • Embedded in the American conscious since the 1975 file "Jaws" was a commercial success, shark attacks are actually extremely uncommon with an average of less than one person killed by a shark every year in the United States, according to Word Press. Florida is one of the states unlucky enough to have had multiple fatalities. This is because some of the bigger, aggressive sharks generally swim in warmer waters. Tampa Bay Online points to Florida having had at least eight reported fatalities since 1980.

    Bee/Wasp

    • Bee and wasp attacks in come at the top of the Word Press list as the most common cause of animal attack fatalities in the United States, with an average of 53 per year. This occurs when people face a swarm of the insects and receive hundreds of stings. It can also occur as a result of an allergic reaction to the sting. These attacks are not as common in Florida, as in other parts of the United States, but they still exist and three were reported in a 14-year period beginning in 1996, according to Tampa Bay Online.