Travel Oz: Australia's Deadliest Creatures

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00:00From spiders to snakes, from dingoes to great whites, from stingrays to saltwater crocodiles,

00:21Australia has them all, more deadly creatures both on the land and in the sea than anywhere

00:27else on earth. Killers in all shapes and sizes. Which is the most deadly, the most terrifying?

00:34We're about to show you. Saltwater crocodiles are the ultimate ambush

00:44predator. They can be found right across Australia's top end, from the mangrove swamps of far north

00:49Queensland to the rivers of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Saltwater crocodiles

00:56or salties, as they're known to many people, stalk their prey, then move so quickly that

01:02they take their victims by surprise. In recent times in Australia, crocodiles have killed

01:08one human every two years. One woman who survived a croc attack is Alicia

01:14Sorohan, the 60-year-old grandmother who jumped on the back of a crocodile that was dragging

01:20a family friend from his tent. The saltwater crocodile is the largest of

01:31all living crocodilians and reptiles. An average adult male saltwater croc can measure up to

01:38five metres or 16 feet, but some have been measured at more than six metres or 20 feet.

01:46Saltwater crocodiles generally spend the tropical wet season in freshwater swamps and rivers,

01:51moving downstream to estuaries in the dry season, and sometimes travelling far out to

01:56sea. Crocodiles compete fiercely with each other

02:01for territory, with dominant males in particular occupying the most eligible stretches of freshwater

02:07creeks and streams. In the Adelaide River, the Northern Territory, many saltwater crocodiles

02:13jump high out of the water as tourist boat operators lure them to perform for tourists.

02:20The saltwater crocodile is an opportunistic apex predator, capable of taking animals

02:25up to the size of an adult male water buffalo, either in the water or on dry land.

02:32Another creature highly feared in the waters off Australia is the great white shark, also

02:47known as a white pointer. This is the world's largest known predatory fish, and is armed

02:53with jaws so sophisticated and powerful that the teeth protrude forward when the shark

02:58opens its mouth to attack. Almost every year a great white shark will kill a swimmer in

03:03Australian waters, but many other people have been attacked like Rodney Fox and have survived

03:09those vicious attacks. Great whites are exceptionally large sharks,

03:17reaching lengths of 6 metres or 20 feet. Like all other sharks, great whites have an extra

03:28sense which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals.

03:35This means they can detect half a billionth of a volt, which enables them to sense when

03:40food is far away. The great white's reputation as ferocious

03:45predators is well earned, yet they are not indiscriminate eating machines. They typically

03:50hunt using an ambush technique, taking their prey by surprise from below. It may be reassuring

03:56to learn that humans are not considered good food for great white sharks to eat, because

04:01the shark's digestion is too slow to cope with a human's body high ratio of bone to

04:06muscle and fat. Accordingly, in most recorded attacks, great whites have broken off contact

04:12after the first bite.

04:24Another creature to watch out for while swimming are stingrays. They've taken their toll in

04:29Australian waters, killing the television wildlife presenter Steve Irwin. He died when

04:35a stinger of a bull ray penetrated his heart.

04:48Sea snakes are another deadly creature found in Australia's warmer waters. There are more

04:52than 30 types of sea snakes in Australia. All of them, like this olive sea snake, are

04:57both venomous and highly dangerous.

05:06Even on the beach, Australians and visitors should take care. This shell may look attractive,

05:15but truth is it houses a killer. This is the cone shell, home to a snail which hunts and

05:22immobilises prey using something resembling a harpoon which has a poison gland containing

05:28neurotoxins. Fish hit by that harpoon can be paralysed instantly.

05:33Keep a look out too for this tiny but deadly creature, the blue-ringed octopus. It's found

05:43in rock pools and armed with a parrot-like beak which can penetrate a wetsuit and carry

05:48enough venom to kill 26 adults.

05:56Further inland, Australia has a range of deadly creatures, such as venomous snakes. Across

06:06Australia every year, some 3,000 people are bitten by snakes.

06:18One of the most deadly is the king brown, lightning fast, highly aggressive. Of all

06:24of Australia's deadly snakes, it's this species, the eastern brown, that is more likely to

06:29kill than any other. They're highly aggressive with 22 recorded fatalities.

06:39Then there's the coastal taipan, responsible for killing dozens of Australians in the cane

06:43fields. They're highly venomous, extremely fast and strike with deadly accuracy.

06:51If the snakes don't get you, then maybe the scorpions will. They're one very nasty creature

06:57found in the Australian undergrowth, armed with a highly venomous stinger at the tip

07:02of its tail.

07:07Spiders too take their toll every year, although modern anti-venines are saving most bite victims

07:12these days. This giant spider is a type of tarantula, so large it's been known to eat

07:18newborn birds, which is how it got its name, the bird-eating spider.

07:27Every year this spider, the redback, bites some 2,000 Australians, causing intense local

07:33pain and has resulted in 13 recorded deaths. It's easily recognisable by its black body

07:39with a prominent red stripe on its abdomen.

07:44The redback spider is one of few animals which display sexual cannibalism while mating.

07:49They have a neurotoxic venom, which is toxic to humans, with bites causing severe pain.

07:57Of all the spiders, this is Australia's most dangerous. It's the funnel-web. Armed with

08:02fangs so massive they can penetrate a fingernail and venom so deadly it can kill humans in

08:08minutes.

08:09They're found in coastal and mountain regions of eastern and southern Australia. Around

08:14Sydney, they can often be found alive and ready to strike in backyard swimming pools.

08:20They burrow in moist, cool and sheltered habitats and can be encountered at any time of the

08:25year.

08:29Ants too have killed and injured in Australia. Across the country there are more than 1,200

08:33types of ants, like the fire ants, a vicious species who attack their prey in huge numbers.

08:53Other ants, like the aggressive jackjumper, leap long distances and bite up to one in

08:58eight Tasmanians every year.

09:03Honeybees are another creature to look out for. Australia is home to some 2,000 species

09:08of native bees. And the imported honeybees, which are armed with a stinger they can only

09:13use once in their lives. But it's that one sting that can trigger an anaphylactic shock

09:19leading to hospitalisation and even death. Adrenaline injections have been used to save

09:25many bee sting victims.

09:30Our final two deadly creatures both appear friendly, but take care, they have both been

09:37known to attack and kill.

09:43First there's the cassowary. With its vivid blue neck colouring, this flightless bird

09:49can be found in the rainforests of North Queensland. But watch out for its feet. They're capable

09:54of disembowelling humans with one powerful kick. Any wonder it's regarded as the world's

10:00most dangerous bird.

10:03Finally there's the dingo. These are consummate hunters and killers. Australia's wild dog,

10:10the dingo, has attacked hundreds of people and killed at least two of them.

10:15On Fraser Island off the Queensland coast, they're purebred, unlike many mainland dingoes

10:21which have interbred with wild dogs.

10:25Rangers have had to cull many of the Fraser Island dingoes after a series of attacks.

10:30But take a drive along the beaches and there they are at dawn and dusk foraging for scraps

10:36of food.

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