Lions and Tigers and Bears and Horses?

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Dr. William V. Raszka, our Associate Editor, offers the following insight into a current topic in the news:

My wife and I were recently hiking in the Southern California desert. At one of the trailheads, a large sign had warned us of the dangers of rattlesnakes. After a few hours of hiking my wife looked around a bit anxiously and asked me if there were mountain lions in the area. By this time, we had climbed about 2,300 feet and were miles from the trailhead. We had not seen another human on the trail and had seen lots of bighorn sheep scat. Since I am not allergic to bees, I tend not to worry about the dangers of wildlife while hiking. However, my wife’s anxiety got me to thinking about what animals really posed the most danger to humans.

 Interestingly enough, according to an article published in the journal Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (June 2012), hiking, walking, or working in Vermont may be more dangerous than hiking in the remote California high desert. Researchers queried the CDC WONDER Database for all animal-related fatalities between 1999 and 2007. The WONDER Database is a compilation of mortality and other epidemiologic data from death certificates in the United States. Inclusion criteria included all mortalities that were a result of bite, contact, attack, or envenomation. Animal attacks resulting in fatalities were divided into those resulting from nonvenomous and venomous causes.

Between 1999 and 2007, animals fatally injured 1,802 people: approximately 60% were nonvenomous and 40% were venomous animals. More than one-third of all deaths were due to “other mammals,” which consist primarily of farm animals such as horses, cows, and pigs. Hornets, wasps, and bees (28.2%) were the next most common, followed by dogs (13.9%). Venomous snakes and lizards only accounted for 3.3% of fatalities. The data are fairly clear that the biggest danger to humans is posed by those animals with whom we are in the most contact. The likelihood of running into a mountain lion while hiking is exceedingly remote. However, being kicked, crushed, or bitten by a farm animal or dog is much more likely given that so many of us are in close proximity to those animals every day. So, I reassured my wife that we were safer on this remote hilltop than back on our little farm in Vermont and we pushed on with our hike.

Noted by WVR, MD

*This filler excerpt can be found in the September 2012 Pediatrics print journal p. 556, or via online here.