What Is the Most Dangerous Animal in a Zoo?

You can never assume that a wild animal is domesticated. On October 3, 2003, during a Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas, entertainer Roy Horn was severely bitten by one of his so-called domesticated tigers. One important lesson we learned from this incident is that both wild animals and zoo animals can be dangerous and unpredictable.

Key Differences

• One important difference between animals in the wild and those in a zoo is that zoo animals are well fed. A hungry animal may be more likely to attack you in the wild, whereas in the exceedingly rare case of an escape, a zoo animal is less likely to attack.

Crocodile

• Crocodiles rank high because they may attack even if they’re not hungry. But, they are not the most aggressive of all zoo animals.

Lion

• Contrary to many people’s assumptions about lions, a lion’s first instinct is to run away from people unless she’s hungry or protecting her cubs.

Hippopotamus

• Hippos are highly dangerous zoo animals because they are surprisingly fast and aggressive, two essential skills you may underestimate should a hippo get loose.

Man

• Statistically, you are probably much more likely to be killed by a fellow human while standing outside of the shark tank than by accidentally falling into the tank, so the reality is that man himself is the most dangerous animal at the zoo.