Throughout history, humanity and animals have clashed more than once. In the modern era, we’d like to think we live mostly in harmony.Still, we should remember just how easy it is for some of the largest and strongest animals to mess with us if they really want to.
Here’s a list of animals that could really show their power over us if we don’t respect them enough.
1. Gustave The Crocodile
Since the late 80s, there’s been a creature that strikes fear into people near Lake Tanganyika. There’s a crocodile that people have named Gustave that has claimed the lives of dozens of villagers who get too close.
He’s never been captured, and the death toll at the jaws of the crocodile is thought to be around sixty.
2. Porphyrius The Whale Shark
Most whale sharks are completely harmless if left alone. But in 6th century Byzantine, there was a whale shark with a reputation.
Porphyrius was a well known whale shark that was 45 feet long and would sink any ship on the straits by the Black Sea and Aegean Sea.
3. Orcas Sinking Ships
The Iberian Sea has had some strange events occur recently. In 2023, groups of Orcas started sinking boats. They would target the rudders on the vessels as well as ram into the hull.
Researchers believe that the matriarch of a pod had a run-in with a boat that left her mouth with bad taste. That meant she commanded her pod to attack any boat.
4. Elephant Attack
In 2013, an elephant was tragically hit by a train. The remaining 15 members of the herd gathered to pay respect to their fallen family member.
They eventually left the tracks, but they weren’t finished. They attacked a town soon after. People theorize they blamed the death of their herd member on humans.
5. The Beast Of Gévaudan
The Beast Of Gévaudan was some kind of animal that attacked mostly women and children in Gévaudan, France, between 1764 and 1767.
The animal was never captured or killed despite hundreds of men trying to hunt it. It still remains a mystery as to what The Beast Of Gévaudan was.
6. Emu War
The Emu War is one of Australia’s most bizarre theaters of war. Veterans from World War I were given land after they returned home. Unfortunately, the emus that lived in that territory didn’t like it.
Australia dispatched its military to cull the birds. Unfortunately, they saw that it cost far too much, considering how hard they were to hit, and they called the whole thing off.
7. A Tiger’s Revenge
Vladimir Markov saw an opportunity in 1997 when he found a Siberian tiger and its kill. The poacher shot the tiger and left it to die.
He underestimated the tiger, and it managed to track down where he lived. It waited for hours until he got home. The tiger then killed him.
8. Lions Against Poachers
In a South African game reserve in 2018, three would be poachers met their match when the came across a pride of lions. The poachers were there to get ivory from rhinos.
The game rangers at the reserve found their remains. The poachers stood no chance against the lion who unwittingly saved the rhinos from their terrible practices.
9. Geese Sentries
In 390 BCE, When the Ghauls tried a sneak attack on the last Roman capital, Capitoline Hill, they had no idea their plans would be ruined by Geese.
When they accidentally woke up geese living in the Temple of Juno, they made a ruckus. This alerted the Romans, who managed to fight them off.
Sources:
6 Real-Life Man-Eating Animals
‘White Gladis’ believed to be orca behind string of boat ‘attacks’ off Iberian Peninsula
The Real Story of the Beast of Gévaudan
How a goose saved ancient Rome from disaster
The True Story Of A Man-Eating Tiger’s ‘Vengeance’
The Legend of Porphyrios, a Whale Who Terrorized Constantinople
