From snakes to spiders, Australia is known to be a country of venomous critters that can kill you - however a recent study shows that Australians are actually more likely to be killed by horses.

A Melbourne University study of Australian coronial data shows that more Australian’s have been killed by horses - rather than venomous animals - in recent years. The study took into account data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Australian coronial records from 2000-2013.

Snakebites killed 27 people in that time frame, as did wasps and bee stings - while 74 people were killed in horse related accidents. Marine animals such as box jellyfish accounted for 3 deaths, while ticks and ants accounted for 5. While more than 11,000 people were hospitalised for spider bites, the last recorded death from a spider bite was 1980 before funnel web spider anti-venom became available.

In the same time period, sharks accounted for 26 deaths while crocodiles accounted for 19 fatalities.

Despite horses being responsible for more deaths than sharks, crocodiles or venomous wildlife, it’s important to note that far more fatalities are linked to drowning (around 5,000 in the same time frame) and burns (around 1,000 in the same time frame).

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