The State With The Most Animal Attacks Actually Isn't Florida

If you were asked which state had the most animal attacks in the United States, you'd be forgiven for thinking Florida, which is full of dangerous species, was the frontrunner. Not only are the Everglades the only place on Earth where crocodiles and alligators live together, Florida is home to a number of invasive species that could prove lethal, including the Burmese Python which has taken over the south of the state and is capable of devouring prey equivalent to 100% of its body mass.

You might even guess California had the most animal attacks on humans. The most populated state in the country, California is also the most biodiverse, which makes human and wildlife interaction an inevitability of daily life in the Golden State. Considering California is home to all manner of carnivores, from black bears to mountain lions, it would seem primed to top a list of states with the most animal attacks.

In reality, however, neither of these states are at the top of that list. Instead, this rather grim honor goes to the Lone Star State. Yes, Texas is home to the most animal attacks on humans, and when you take a closer look, it's not hard to see why.

In 2002, BetOhio analyzed recorded human fatalities as a result of wildlife encounters since 2000, using data from the CDC's Wonder database and Wikipedia. The analysis showed that Texas was far and away the most dangerous state when it comes to fatal animal attacks. There were a total of 559 fatalities in the state since 2000, which far exceeds the second-most dangerous state in that regard, California, with 312 fatalities. According to the site, this means that if you lived in Texas for a 20-year period, you would have a one in 53,842 chance of becoming the victim of an animal-related fatality.

Those findings followed a 2021 report from Outforia.com, which similarly analyzed U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from between 1999 to 2019, to determine that Texas led the nation in terms of fatal animal attacks and encounters. In that 20-year span, 520 humans reportedly lost their lives to deadly animal attacks. 

But what species are most responsible for this alarming trend? The most dangerous species in Texas include the southern black widow spider, western diamondback rattlesnake, and the Arizona bark scorpion. Not to be outdone by the Sunshine State, Texas is also home to the American alligator, which is well-established in the east of the state. But surprisingly enough, statistically none of these creatures have been the most deadly in Texas over the past 20-odd years.

Interestingly, the Lone Star State differs from the rest of the world in that most of its human deaths as a result of animal encounters come from mammals and not insects. According to BetOhio, Texas' 559 deaths over a 22-year period were "mainly at the hands of dogs and other mammals," with 79 deadly dog bites in Texas from 2000 to around 2022, while other mammals were responsible for 207 fatal attacks. 

Still, Texas was also ahead of other states for hornet, wasp, and bee stings, with 196 resulting in a fatality since 2000. By comparison, the deadliest animal in the world is the mosquito, which in 2022 was responsible for more than 1 million human deaths worldwide. That far exceeds the second-most deadly creatures on the list, snakes, which killed 100,000 people that same year. In Texas, however, snake and lizard encounters accounted for 16 deaths from 2000 to 2022. The only category where Texas didn't come top was marine fatalities, which was led by Florida with 11 deaths since 2000.

If dogs and other mammals are the most deadly animals in Texas, which dogs are causing all these horrific incidents, and which creatures are responsible for the 207 attacks by other mammals? According to DogsBite.org, there were 99 fatal dog attacks in Texas from 2005 to 2024, with many occurring in 2024, and most of them were by pit bulls. 

But what about those "other mammals?" Brown bears, sharks, snakes, black bears, and alligators have been responsible for most animal attack fatalities nationwide since 1970, but in Texas bears aren't very common, suggesting the state differs from the national trend with that species.

Interestingly enough, feral hogs are an invasive species currently destroying Texas, and attacks by feral hogs are also on the rise, including an incident in November 2024, where a man in a wheelchair was charged by one of the invasive pigs. They're also responsible for at least one death in 2019, when Christine Rollins was killed by a herd of the feral invaders in Anahuac, roughly 50 miles east of Houston.