5 Truly Awful Ways To Be Killed By An Animal

5. Electrocution

Electric eel

Electric eels are elongated, fresh water fish, native to the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in South America. They are not really eels, but a kind of knifefish (and related to catfish). They are among the deadliest denizens of the South American rivers. It has not one, but three specialized organs to produce electric currents strong enough (600 volts, sometimes more) to stun or kill an adult human. It is believed that many “unexplained” disappearances of people while swimming in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, could be due to them being stunned by an electric eel and drowning, or even, dying because of the eel’s discharge itself. Many of these deaths are often blamed on attacks by predatory animals such as piranha or caiman. The electric eel doesn’t eat human beings; it feeds on smaller fish, crabs and small mammals. It only attacks in self defense, and handling an electric eel or even entering the water wherever these fish are common should be avoided at all costs.

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