There's a reason they warned you never
to travel alone in the Amazon.
As you go deeper into the rainforest,
you start to feel like you're being watched.
Wait. Was that a roar?
Soon you realize that this
breathtaking scenery
is home to other things
that can take your breath away
forever.
The Amazon is a huge and highly
unexplored territory,
five times larger than the state of Texas.
10% of Earth's wildlife
we know about inhabits this jungle.
And if you aren't careful,
a lot of that wildlife
could kill you.
So today, we've put together
a list of the animals considered to be
the most dangerous out of the bunch.
Whether you travel by foot,
water
or you're sticking to the high ground,
these predators have their eyes on you.
At 30 cm (12 in) long
with a weight of 3 g (.10 oz),
the Amazonian giant centipede
is the largest centipede in the world.
Its venom is so powerful
it can immobilize prey 15 times its size.
Fortunately for you,
its favorite meals are rodents,
lizards and bats.
If you jam your foot in the wrong place
it won’t hesitate to inject you with venom
engineered to cause serious injuries with
your cardiovascular,
respiratory and nervous systems.
So look out below, watch your step
and don't forget a long pair of socks.
Just in case.
You won’t need to go deep into the ocean
to encounter these jaws.
Bull sharks prefer shallow waters
and can be found in rivers,
dangerously close to human-populated
areas.
They're not just found in the Amazon,
either.
Some encounters with humans
Originally attributed to great whites
were actually the handiwork
of bull sharks.
Like the 1916 incidents
along the Jersey Shore
that killed four people in two weeks.
They have a nastier bite than that
of a great white,
and although they usually stick to turtles,
oysters and even other bull sharks,
if they are hungry enough
anything goes.
Including hippos.
The good news is that these predators
can't follow you out of the water.
The bad news is
that the creature that awaits you
at the top of our list
could kill you in the water,
on land, and even from above.
Also known as the most poisonous
creature on Earth,
this quarter-sized frog packs
enough venom to kill 20
very full-sized people.
The skin of the poison dart frog
has attractive, bright colors
but don’t even think about touching one.
Venom is released through their skin,
and a single stroke from your finger
can result in heart failure within minutes.
Indigenous peoples in the Amazon
use this venom to make
poison-infused-arrows
by rolling an arrow tip
over the frog’s skin.
Just like that,
they have a mortal weapon
that will be potent for over two years.
If you want to survive in the Amazon,
stay away from pretty-colored creatures.
This dangerous reptile reaches lengths
of almost 5 m (16.4 ft)
and can weigh 454 kg (1,000 lb).
Once a black caiman latches onto you
it’ll start to twist and thrash
until you’re bleeding profusely
but still possibly aware enough
of the fact you're being
dragged toward the water
where a drowning fate awaits.
Nocturnal hunters,
they know how to camouflage themselves.
If you do see one don’t approach it.
Instead,
back away slowly
and then try to run away in a straight line.
In 2010,
biologist Deise Nishimura was at the edge
of her houseboat when
a black caiman attacked.
As the massive animal dragged her
into the water,
Nishimura located its eyes and nose
and desperately squeezed
as hard as she could.
The reptile let Nishimura go
and she survived,
but not before she lost a leg
to the Amazon's largest predator.
One predator the black caiman
is worried about?
The jaguar,
which is known to ambush them
from above.
They’re usually found lurking on land,
but if you think that you can’t be attacked
by a jaguar in water,
think again.
Jaguars are remarkable swimmers,
which makes them
all that more dangerous.
In 2010 while on a fishing trip,
a 17-year-old boy
was blindsided by a jaguar
jumping from a ravine and straight
onto his boat.
The teen fell into the water
with the jaguar’s jaws latched to his head.
The ferocious cat wouldn’t let go
until the boat's skipper struck it
with an iron pipe.
The victim was left with deep gashes
in his skull
from the jaguar’s sharp fangs,
requiring surgery to remove bone
fragments from his brain tissue.
If you find yourself face-to-face
with a jaguar,
raise your hands to appear bigger
and slowly back away.
Never turn your back on it.
If it lunges,
grab whatever you can
to hit it in the head.
Hard.
You survived the most dangerous animals
of the Amazon.
But did you know that snakes attack
nearly 3 million people every year?
You wanna know how to survive that?
Find out here.