Animals

[Alice123]

What kind of deadly animals do you get in queensland ?

[Bobj]

Hello, Alice, it depends on where you are in Queensland. There are poisonous snakes all over this wonderful State but not too many people see them. There are some poisonous spiders all over but, again, not too many people see them. The most dangerous animal is the saltwater crocodile, but that is in the far north, in the really remote regions. There are also lots of wild pigs in the farming and semi desert areas, but not too many people encounter them. There are also a few dingoes, but these are mainly timid and will run away from humans.

In the sea there are very poisonous creatures, the irukandji and box jellyfish are mainly in the north from about Gladstone. Lots of sharks, especially the bull shark inhabit the waters of the south east. There are also poisonous seashells but again, they are in the north of the State.

 

I've lived in Queensland for 14 years and only see a few snakes, the odd poisonous spider and dingo. As I live only a couple of hundred metres from the sea, I get to sea sea snakes and the two jellyfish I mentioned.

 

Chances are that you will not encounter any of these creatures if you live in any of the cities

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[Alice123]

Yeah thanks, I would be doing a lot of water sports so thanks for the heads up and just north of Brisbane

[Venomous Victoria]

What kind of deadly animals do you get in queensland 

 

 

Gday Alice,

Hope this helps regarding your question about Queensland’s deadly animals/wildlife.

 

Queensland’s potentially deadly terrestrial (land) snakes are:

 

Eastern Brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis)

Western Brown snake (Pseudonaja nuchalis)

Speckled Brown snake (Pseudonaja guttata)

 

Death Adders (Acanthophis various subspecies)

 

Eastern Tiger snake (Notechis scutatus)

 

Coastal Taipan (Oxyuranus scutalatus)

Inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus)

 

Mulga – King Brown (Pseudechis australis) actually a member of the black snake family

Red belly black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus)

Collett’s snake (Pseudechis colletti)

 

Rough scaled snake (Tropidechis carinatus)

Pale Headed snake (Hoplocephalus bitorquatus)

 

Some lesser known less venomous species are:

Yellow faced whip snake, Black whip snake, Small eyed snake, Curl snake and De Vis’ snake

 

The Inland taipan is restricted to the south western corner of Q’land and would be very rare to be encountered which may be a preferable option to some as the species holds the title of the worlds most venomous land snake. Studies suggest an average venom yield from the Inland taipan when milked could kill up to 100 adults or 250,000 mice!

 

If we look the commonly found snake species in Queensland the Eastern Brown would be the more likely to be encountered as its ability to adapt to human habitation in its search for its preferred prey rodents/small mammals brings it into contact with people more regularly nowadays. The eastern brown snake currently kills more people each year in Australia than any other species, due to possibly its aggressive defensive nature if cornered or provoked and the species will deliver multiple bites on occasions.

 

 

The Coastal Taipan can be found in South Eastern Q’land, the Sunshine Coast right up through to the tip of Cape York and is the species best avoided at all costs. Regarded by expert’s world wide as the most dangerous snake in the world, the

Taipans intelligence, defensive nature and reputation for accurate multiple strikes make this animal a real potential killer if harassed or provoked in any way. When learning to handle Coastal Taipans an old snake handler always preached to me they were the species to call ‘sir’ on every occasion and treat with the utmost respect. Many years ago a young boy was fatality bitten by an enraged Taipan, when his body was examined it was discovered he had fourteen puncture marks on his upper thigh buttock and records indicate the boy was dead in less than 20minutes.

 

 

Sea snakes

 

Approximately 30 of the worlds 50 species of Sea snake inhabit the Australian coastline, with a majority of them being found within the tropical northern waters. There has been no record of a human fatality from a sea snake bite in Australia according to statistics from reputable sources. Just to name a few here as examples:

 

Beaked Sea Snake (Enhydrina schistosa)

Elegant Sea Snake (Hydrophis elegans)

Yellow Bellied Sea Snake (Pelamis platurus)

 

Other deadly reptiles:

 

Saltwater / Estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)

 

A very real danger to the uneducated tourist or complacent local, a highly defensive/territorial and intelligent animal that regularly causes Australian and tourist fatalities. The Saltwater crocodile may spend days stalking its prey waiting for the right moment to launch a strike. Only two years ago when I was near Fraser Island looking for snakes official signs had been erected to warn of the small isolated populations/specimens that appear to have moved a little more south over the years.

 

Queensland’s potentially deadly and dangerous spiders are:

 

Red back spider (Latrodectus hasselti)

Darling Downs’s funnelweb (Hadronyche infensa)

 

Fatalities have been recorded from these two species listed above.

 

While there are many spider species found in Queensland the fact is very few would be capable of inflicting a fatal bite on a healthy human adult/child. Numerous species however could and do have painful bites and cause uncomfortable symptoms if unlucky enough to be bitten by them, a few examples are:

 

Mouse Spider (Missulena occtoria)

Wolf Spider (Lycosa godreffroyi)

White tailed spider (Lampona cylindrata)

Bird Eating Spiders (Selenocosmia)

 

 

Queensland’s potentially deadly and dangerous aquatic animals are:

 

 

Cone shells of various species found in tropical waters should be left alone and never handled fatalities although rare have been recorded in Australia before, examples are of species to avoid are:

 

Geographer cone (Conus geographus)

Textile cone shell (Conus textilis)

 

Reef Stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa)

 

Sharks

 

Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)

Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvieri)

Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas)

 

Australia has more than 160 species of shark which make up nearly half of the worlds species. The vast majority of these pose no threat to humans. Those that do are more than likely cases of people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So with care most threats are avoidable, and while all shark species could be considered dangerous/deadly to man.

The reality is apart from a very few species most are non aggressive in nature and will happily leave humans alone. I have only covered the three potential well known killers so to speak remembering that generally sharks will only attack humans if provoked or they're mistaken for food.

Jellyfish

 

Box jellyfish (Chironex)

Irukandji (Carukia barnesi)

Portuguese Man ‘o’ war/Blue bottle (Physalia physalis)

 

Box jellyfish have caused more than 60 deaths in Australia in the past hundred years, warning signs are often situated at sites people are likely to encounter these animals but caution should be taken when entering unknown tropical waters.

 

While there are numerous potentially dangerous or deadly animals to be found in Queensland and for that matter all over Australia, deaths from these animals are extremely rare if they left alone and admired from a safe distance. These various species listed above while all potentially dangerous to life all play a role in the unique biodiversity of Queensland native wildlife.

 

Hope this helps Alice, sorry if I have forgotten any...if have any questions feel free to ask if there is something I haven’t covered or you are curious about. I have only outlined the animals themselves and if can offer you one piece of advice, there is only one rule to remember when dealing with dangerous/deadly animals and that is they only ever bite of Food or Fear...

 

 

If we leave them alone, they leave us alone...

 

 

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

Steve

Edited August 24, 2013 by ali

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Yeah thanks, I would be doing a lot of water sports so thanks for the heads up and just north of Brisbane

Alice you should be fine.

Around us we have the brown snakes, green tree snakes, red belly black, Pythons, crocs and stingers yet I'm still here :wink:

We have had plenty of dealings with the pythons (non ven) but have not yet seen a croc in the wild, seen plenty of wild boar.

My son had a red belly black come near him when he was playing in the waterfall at the side of the house (wet season) and on Thursday night myself and Rob nearly stood on a Brown whilst walking through the cane fields.

They are around but like Bob said the chances of you seeing any in and around Brissy are slim. in 8 yrs of being in Melbourne (and outside of work as I was a wildlife ranger) I only ever saw 1 snake.

[Alice123]

Thanks for the feedback