Original subtitles

[narrator] Australia is the world's largest island.

Geographic separation over thousands of years

resulted in 90% of the species found in Australia

being endemic to this vast land.

And for the locals, living here means living

amongst some of the world's most dangerous animals.

Some of these animals can kill instantly,

others leave lasting injuries

and some can just inflict a nasty bite.

In all, 72 animals can cause us damage,

but which one tops the list of most dangerous?

Up first in the arena

is a creature who holds the trump card

for the extraordinary.

It's fascinating, unusual and lovable.

However, in the battlefield,

it'll take its enemy by surprise.

This animal baffled European scientists

when first discovered during Australia's settlement.

The bizarre appearance of the platypus

led the early settlers to believe it was a fraud,

an animal that must've been put together

by Indigenous people to scare away the new settlers,

or put together as a joke.

This duck-billed, beaver-tailed,

otter-footed mammal, that also laid eggs,

could not have been more unbelievable.

What they also learnt was that this cute animal

was highly dangerous.

One thing about being hit by a platypus, you remember it.

If you get spurred by a platypus,

of course you'll get a few mils of venom,

not a microscopic amount.

So the pain would be absolutely extraordinary.

If a person gets spurred, then it's a very nasty injury

and often it's on the hand or the arm

when people try to pick platypuses up.

And the affected part swells up and gets very painful.

There's no antidote, no pain relief will help.

And that pain can linger on

and not fully recover for three to six months.

An adult platypus can measure up to 60cm in length

and can weigh up to three kilos.

They have more in common with echidnas

than any other animal, both of which are the only members

of the select group - monotremes.

They are the only egg-laying mammals on Earth.

The male platypuses venom is largely unstudied.

Its spurs are located on the hind legs,

and at first look, they don't appear overly dangerous.

But the amount of venom it can quickly inject

will immediately cause intense and sustained pain.

During the mating season,

the male is aggressive and should be avoided.

Interestingly, the platypus does not have a stomach.

Instead, it has an esophagus linked to the intestine.

Scientists believe that there was a time in natural history

that there was a stomach,

but due to the soft nature of its diet,

the stomach became redundant.

The calcaneus spur on the male is tough and lethal.

Females also begin life with a spur

but this falls off in their first year.

A little known fact is that an adult platypus

can consume its own body weight

in less than a 24-hour period.

Found throughout eastern mainland Australia

and Tasmania,

they are very elusive and prefer to keep out of our way.

But when handled, look out

as this little cutie does have a nasty punch.

as Keith Payne found out on a fishing trip with his son.

My son and I were fishing up at Eungella at the time,

up in the dam.

Early morning, Mr Platypus is laying

on a partly submerged log.

Normally, when you get near them, they just... 'pwww!',

they're gone.

But he remained there and I picked him up

like you'd pick up a cat.

I had a look at him, he didn't appear to have any injuries.

Put him down in the water and his back leg went bang.

Thank you very much, and he got me.

As soon as he hit me, it was instantaneous.

Excruciating pain.

It was really terrible.

I had never felt pain like it before.

This is a huge comment from Keith.

He's a recipient of the Victoria Cross,

which is the highest award for bravery during wartime

for his services in the Vietnam War.

He has suffered his fair share of shrapnel wounds,

and whilst wounded, he still took on the task

of rescuing injured soldiers from the battlefield

whilst under gunfire.

But it was the supposedly humble platypus

that stopped him in his tracks.

The venom had already started

its nasty little progress up my arm.

By the time I got to hospital,

my arm was completely swollen to about here.

They immediately put me on a drip.

They'd already given me two shots of morphine.

Another shot of morphine

would've stopped my heart a little bit.

I had started to go into

a rather deep brown-to-black color.

It wasn't a very pleasant journey.

Keith spent six days in hospital

and suffered months of pain, all because he got too close

to one of the world's strangest animals.

[Nick] They have a bill like a duck,

they have webbed feet like a frog,

they have venom like a snake,

they regurgitate their food rather like a cow does.

They're just a very, very unusual, fascinating animal.

I had no idea that platypus could do what they did.

I didn't know that they carried a venom.

I didn't know that their most dangerous and toxic period

is during the mating season.

These are all things you learn after.

Everybody knows all about it except Keith, I think.

'Oh, I knew, I knew!' My God, did you?

Platypus have small eyes but acute sight and hearing.

Under water, they are blind and deaf

so rely on a sixth sense, electroreception,

similar to sharks and rays.

A common movement under the water

is for their head to shake side to side

as they detect very small prey like worms and crustaceans.

They can perform 75 dives an hour

and stay submerged for up to 40 seconds.

They are mostly active at night

but can be seen in the early morning

before heading back to their burrows to rest.

One man who knows a lot about monotremes is James Macgregor.

His research has been gathering information

on the health, distribution and abundance

of platypus populations in Tasmania.

It's a creature that you don't often get up close to it

just from a studying point of view.

But also they are from an ancient group of animals.

The group of animals have been around

for at least a hundred million years,

probably more like 200 million years.

And they've got so many unique features -

the laying eggs, the venom production in the males,

the electroreception in their bill.

They're a really unique animal

and really want to put some effort into conserving them.

If you leave them alone, they're not harmful at all.

Yeah, the problem comes when people try to pick them up.

Once the venom is injected,

it is a very, very nasty thing to happen.

Really quite excruciating pain that nothing can relieve,

no sort of medications, and there's no antidote,

but it can take a few months to fully resolve.

Surprisingly, the platypus is capable of many vocalizations

including a soft growling sound

that if you weren't mistaken does sound a lot

like a nasty predator.

[platypus growls]

But in reality, although the venom is very toxic,

you have to be very unlucky

to cop a hit off this little mammal.

[platypus growls]

Animals are competitive by nature.

They need to be to survive.

So in keeping with the action, we're gonna rank them

according to just how dangerous they can be.

We'll scrutinize each one,

highlighting how they can affect your life,

quite literally,

allowing you to decide if you're game enough

to get as close as some of our experts.

For an animal that the early settlers thought was a fake,

this small mammal certainly packs a punch

when it comes to defending itself.

It's our first feature animal,

so it's looking strong at number one.

But will it hold its spot?

Our next animal is small, hairy and feared by many.

It has taken its fair share of victims,

so it may just creep its way to the top.

It's a lovely Sunday afternoon.

You're kneeling on the edge of an overgrown garden bed,

shrubs strangling your favorite plants.

And then... you're hit.

Immense pain ensues

delivered by the most notorious member

of the Australian spider family -

the Sydney funnel-web.

You'll get raised blood pressure, your eyes will run,

your nose will run,

pain around the bite site, the muscles will squirm.

The Sydney funnel-web contains lethal toxic venom

that, left untreated, could mean the end of your life.

This aggressive, predatory spider

will not shy away from a fight if under threat,

rearing up and attacking,

deftly delivering an intensely painful bite

with fangs long enough to pierce human skin.

The good news is that since the antivenin

was developed in 1981, no deaths have been recorded.

However, prior to this, 13 people met their fate

from the fangs of the Sydney funnel-web.

Within 30 minutes, the lethal toxic cocktail

surges through your lymphatic system.

You'll feel nauseous, you'll experience profuse sweating,

weakness of the muscles and difficulty breathing.

If you don't get to a hospital immediately

for a shot of lifesaving antivenin,

you're in for a world of trouble.

Funnel-webs have a particular toxin in their venom

that targets channels on nerves.

And it's quite specific to insects and primates,

interestingly enough,

and that causes the nerves to over-fire,

to be overactive,

and this causes vastly increased blood pressure,

and people generally die from fluid on the lungs

or hemorrhaging.

Dr David Wilson is a research scientist

and heads up a team of dedicated researchers

studying these deadly creatures.

One of the interesting things about funnel-webs

is that they don't need much air

and they can trap air bubbles on their body

if they fall into water.

So particularly around Sydney during the mating season,

males will frequently fall into swimming pools

and look like they're dead at the bottom of the pool.

People will scoop them out

and put them on the side of the pool

and then half an hour, an hour later,

the spider will be gone and they'll think a bird got it,

but it's actually the spider's recovered and wandered off.

Encounters with humans in urban areas are not a rarity.

However, the Sydney funnel-webs preferred hangout

is underground.

[David] Funnel-webs eat insects and small lizards,

frogs, that kind of thing,

but they're favorite food is millipedes.

They catch the millipedes

by waiting in the top of their burrow

for the millipede to walk across the web trip lines

at the top of the burrow.

When they detect that, they'll rush out and grab it,

inject it with venom and pull it back into their burrow.

It is the venom of the male Sydney funnel-web

that contains a unique toxic cocktail

that wreaks havoc on the nervous system of insects,

humans and primates alike but not of other mammals.

This is a creature of weird science.

Fascinating and intriguing,

the Sydney funnel-web is one of 36 species of funnel-webs

distributed up and down the east coast of Australia.

It is also the most deadly.

Its dark, glossy body growing up to 5cm in length

has a blanket of fine hairs

on the undercarriage of its thorax and legs.

These fine hairs are used to sense vibrations in the air,

alerting the spider when to attack

and when to defend.

On top of this, they have a great ability

to survey all their surroundings.

Their eyes are on the top of their head,

so when they rear up, they're looking behind themself.

Although not as dangerous to humans,

the female of the species takes no prisoners

when it comes to love and reproduction.

She is cunning,

spending most of her 25-year life span within her burrow

patiently awaiting prey and lovers.

On reaching sexual maturity between five and seven years,

the male leaves his burrow by night

in search of female companionship.

This mystifying moonlight romance,

one way or another, always ends in death.

They can die either before they mate

or after they've mated or during mating.

Putting this concept to the test,

picture two lethal funnel-webs placed in a glass tank.

A female at one end, a male at the other,

separated by a perforated divider

allowing only the transfer of pheromones.

I left them for a week and he was up and down the divider

and she just stayed in her burrow

and so I took the divider out.

The question is, does it end in love?

And he crept over and he was tapping on her web

and he got closer and closer and closer.

And he got two legs in the front of her burrow

and she just rushed up, absolutely poleaxed him

through the middle of his thorax.

No. It ends in tragedy.

She absolutely annihilated him.

Encouraging breeding may provide vital information

regarding behavior and reproduction of this species.

But this is not the only study Dr David Wilson and his team

are working on.

Vital research is taking place

in the study of the complex components

that make up the highly toxic venom

of the funnel-web spider.

[David] We're collecting venom from Australian tarantulas

and funnel-web spiders

to look through the components

and see if we can find a potential therapeutic lead

particularly in the treatment of breast cancer.

This research is in its infancy

but already harboring some incredible results.

[David] Milking venom from a funnel-web is quite easy

'cause all you need to do is annoy them

and they'll rear back and expel the venom

out onto the fang tips

and then it's just a matter of collecting it

with a little aspiration device.

These deadly Australian arachnids

living silently in moist, cool burrows

veiled behind a funnel-shaped silken web

are not only one of the most revered and feared

creepy-crawlies on the planet

but may hold a toxic key

to the development of future medical breakthroughs.

But do beware -

who knows what's lurking in your garden bed

poised to strike and send you on an intense journey of pain?

The Sydney funnel-web is quite possibly lurking nearby,

but although you're unlikely to die from its bite

if you can get medical treatment,

it's still going to push the platypus down to number two.

The spider moves into number one,

but it may not be for long.

Waiting at the bottom of the ocean is a master of disguise

with its own secret weapon.

I've had bad hits that last days.

The whole arm was just aching everywhere.

And as soon as it hit both my wrists, straightaway,

like my hands went just like numb.

Couldn't move them.

I swam to the surface, took a look at them,

tried to move them, I was like: "Nuh, yeah, I'm done."

An expert when it comes to the aquatic environment

and a recreational fisher,

one knows the game, the other is a rookie,

but what they both know is that this fish

whacks a big punch if you get in its way.

It's one of the times where the venom

is purely there for defense, not to subdue prey.

Because it's purely used for defense,

it causes extreme pain.

So animals know not to try and feed upon it again.

Marine biologist Richard Fitzpatrick

works with an incredible number of venomous animals

and due to the nature of his work

has had many an encounter with the treacherous cobbler.

So cobblers, when you're either scuba diving,

you put your hand on them accidentally

or, you know, catch them fishing,

you gotta look out for those dorsal spines.

For Dane Shardlow, those dorsal spines

were the beginning of an agonizing journey -

a journey that would take him

to a new level of extreme pain.

I was spearfishing with the family -

my brothers, my sister, my dad and a mate of mine.

My mate and I got in the water first,

all geared up, real eager to get going.

Peaceful Bay is situated

on the south coast of Western Australia near Denmark.

It's a popular tourist destination all year round,

and despite the cold southern waters,

the stunning ocean setting is one of the major drawcards.

Probably been in the water a total of two minutes.

We come across a cobbler.

It was completely green, all speckly,

really pretty colors, really docile,

it just moved really casually.

[Richard] If you're in the ocean,

there's a few different strategies.

One is to be going quick and chase your prey down,

or you can sit and wait for it to come to you.

The cobbler is very much a sit-and-wait predator.

They conserve a lot of energy

so they're battle ready if danger presents.

[Dane] When I dove down towards it,

it wasn't startled or anything like that.

I had the loaded spear gun and thought:

"This is cruel being able to just like spear it

without it having any sort of..."

So I thought: "Oh..."

Dane was falling into the trap of guessing the unknown,

completely unaware of the consequences.

I handed the spear gun off, very foolishly, to my mate

and went to grab it.

I had gloves on, I had a wetsuit on

which covered my wrists really well,

like they were Kevlar gloves sort of thing,

so I felt pretty safe.

But a wetsuit is no match for a cobbler.

The spines are sharp,

and in defense, this is one fish

that isn't going to hold back.

I went in to dive down towards it again

and I slipped my hand underneath it

and one on top of it

and just grabbed it.

As soon as I grabbed it,

I realized just how silly that was.

Covered in a mucus,

slipped out of my hands really quickly.

It was starting to become obvious to Dane

that predicting an easy target

was going to prove to be a massive mistake.

[Dane] I think I had hold of it with one hand.

It managed to hit me on my left wrist

with its side barb.

So they've got the two there and then the one on top.

And then hit me there with the one on the top.

And that one was searing.

The cobbler, also known as a catfish,

is endemic to Australia.

It's a member of the scorpion fish family,

but this family member

lives in the cooler waters of the country.

Like all the scorpion fish,

the dorsal spines have a venom sac at the base of each spine

and these spines are like a hypodermic needle.

The cobbler also has serrated and poisonous spines

embedded in the pectoral fins.

[Richard] So if you are fishing

and catch a cobbler and you're trying to handle it

to get it off the hook

and it hits you with one of those spines,

you're gonna get, one, the trauma

from the spine going in, which hurts a lot,

and then the venom will go in as well.

[Dane] I swam backwards for a little bit,

then rolled onto my side and just gunned it for the shore.

Feeling a little safer closer to shore,

he stood up and tried to pull his gloves off

but realized he didn't have the strength

to hold onto anything.

I stood there just waiting for someone to come and help me.

And I managed to get my mate to pull my gloves off

and then at that point,

the blood just started bubbling out of the two holes

that I'd been punctured by.

On the initial puncture,

the heat just swelled through both forearms.

Like I could feel the flush through the forearm

and it just seemed to travel straight up.

It didn't go outwards to my fingertips -

it just felt like it hit in

and then just went up through my forearm.

I felt like Popeye - big, heavy forearm.

By now, his family had come over

to find out what was going on.

But not having any experience with the cobbler

or heard of any incident over the years,

it was basically a case of toughen up.

Dane was desperate to know more.

And I was thinking like: "I'm really not sure

how poisonous these are, I really need to check."

But I couldn't even work my phone

to try and type in, you know, to Google.

Whilst Dane was trying to discover

how to make the pain stop,

the rest of his family were back enjoying the ocean,

only momentarily distracted by Dane's attack.

Two hours later, they came out of the water

and I was just in the fetal position,

just like trying to put pressure on my forearms

and it just wasn't working.

No matter what I seemed to do,

it was just searing, like really, really agonizing.

About six hours after the excruciating jabs,

the pain still wasn't subsiding.

He knew he needed medical treatment.

When you're jabbed by a cobbler, it hurts a lot.

So the best first aid is to put it into warm water

and then slowly build up the heat

and then leave it in there as long as possible.

Quickly responding to Dane's arrival,

the nurse was anxious

that he had taken so long to get to hospital.

[Dane] She said that with any marine or aquatic poison,

you really need to be quick getting on top of it.

For probably about half an hour to 45 minutes,

I was taking my hands in and out of this hot water

and the further I could get my arms in, the better it felt.

So I was submerging my arms up to my elbows in this basin

trying to ease the pain.

And it would seem I'd get maybe two minutes of relief

and then the water would cool

and the pain would just be back again.

Just that waiting, that few minutes

in between each time she came and saw me

was just like, oh, just head back:

"Come on, I need this to get over with."

[Richard] Depends on how bad the sting is.

I've had bad hits that last days.

And, you know, the whole arm was just aching everywhere

as a result

and, yeah, just as often as possible,

you just go have a hot shower and try and get the edge off.

It's interesting, when you take the limb

straight out of the hot water,

pain comes straight back again.

So, yeah, it's not a nice thing.

Unbeknown to Dane, his pain was exasperated

as the barbs of the cobbler

were still stuck in his wrists.

He was soon to realize the importance

of getting professional help.

[Dane] She put these... not suction cups

but something on my wrist that drew out the venom

and so the first things that came out were the two barbs

and they were these two like splinter-looking things

that then had like a long string of mucus to them.

So when she started pumping these little things out,

these strands of mucus and venom came out

that I thought was disgusting, like they had been in my wrist

and up in my body for the last six hours.

And when that all came out, it was like instant relief,

like the pain really subsided.

Yeah, they gave me the shot of adrenaline

and I felt a million bucks.

I went from not being able to move

and just hating the world

to, yep, it's time to like, let's go dance,

let's go do something.

The barbs were like a few millimeters long.

I really felt like I'd been able to get that out.

But, yeah, the barbs were in

and then the mucus strain or poison strain

that was thick and yellow and just attached to it,

it was disgusting watching that come out.

I had no concept that there'd still be something

in the actual wound.

There was bleeding.

It wasn't like they'd sealed up or anything like that.

With the barbs and mucus of the cobbler removed,

Dane was left with what felt like really dull bruising,

as though he'd been hammered on both wrists.

It was nothing compared to

what that original pain was, that initial pain.

No, it won't kill. It just causes a lot of pain.

The only times you get deaths from scorpion fish families

is with the stonefish.

The stonefish has the extreme end of the venom spectrum.

But even then, it's very rare

to get fatalities from stonefish.

It's mainly the injuries are just extremely painful.

The cobbler, like most scorpion fish,

have disruptive color patterns,

so they have really good camouflage,

perfect for taking their prey by surprise.

They're just sitting there waiting for a little fish

to swim by just that little too close

and then bang, they'll swallow it.

And they'll generally engulf their prey

in like one-twentieth of a second.

I've got scars all over me from different stuff,

different things, but this was stupidity at its best.

After four long days, the pain had subsided

but the wounds were far from looking good.

The puncture points were heavily infected.

[Dane] They were pussy and they were quite terrible

so it wasn't any more a matter of the pain I was getting,

it was now that these punctures

were blistery and yucky.

It would raise almost like a pimple

and you'd squeeze it and pus and that would come out.

And it wasn't like whitish or anything like that,

it was just yucky, mucusy-looking crap

that was not at all enjoyable.

Six months after the event,

Dane was left with two very small scars.

I kind of see it as a "you got yours" sort of thing.

Obviously had I not grabbed it, I'd have speared it

and it's kinda like a bit of a karma thing

and I definitely believe that karma

is deserved every now and then.

So, yeah, I feel like, yep,

I've probably earned that over the time.

One to the fish.

The cobbler may have triumphed

but not enough to take it to the top.

The Sydney funnel-web will hold its spot at number one.

However, the platypus takes a dive down to number three

as it's unlikely to swim your way.

The cobbler nestles in between at number two

as there's a greater chance you'll meet this beast.

But about to take the spotlight is and animal

who will get you without you even knowing it's there.

All it takes is one tiny miniscule hair

hardly visible to the human eye

and bam, the agony is overwhelming,

relentless and ghastly.

You're in for intense pain,

followed by intense itching...

..and hives and rash

and, oh, they're a horrible thing.

Really, really painful and irritating,

horrible little thing.

Known throughout tropical and central Australia

as the itchy grub,

this common caterpillar may be small in size

but it packs a big punch if you happen to get in its way.

When one sort of brushes against your skin,

you normally get them across the back of your neck

because you're normally ducking underneath a branch

or something like that.

And you just feel it

like a bit like prickly heat sensation.

This creature is not out looking to attack.

It's more a case of walking past the wrong tree

at the wrong time.

The prickly heat sensation is the first warning sign.

Then the welts start to develop -

this is the confirmation you've been hit.

You're going to be itchy.

You know you need to try and resist scratching.

It's torturous assault from an unknown enemy.

You really know it in the middle of the night,

you wake up, you scratch the tops off the welts,

you're bleeding, you got blood on your fingers

and blood all over your pillow,

blood all over your sheets.

And you're just in intense, agonizing pain

and there's nothing you can do about it.

There are several species of itchy grub,

all to be avoided.

The freshwater mangrove itchy caterpillar

which, as its name suggests,

lives in the freshwater mangroves

that line the banks of the creeks and river systems

in the tropics of Top End Australia.

Yellowy brown in color and covered in fine hairs,

they can be found hanging on a silken thread

from the branches of the freshwater mangrove,

which is also their preferred food source.

The bag-shelter moth, or processionary caterpillar,

is also to be given a wide berth.

They are a large caterpillar black in color

with a long hairy appearance

and can often be seen in an incredible processionary march

across the landscape.

End to end, never straying from the line,

regimented, a spectacle to be admired from a distance.

So, yeah, I got hit on Saturday

about two o'clock in the afternoon

and the whole from my shoulder

down to about the middle of my back's

covered in a big patch of rash.

And I honestly thought I only got hit on the shoulder,

but obviously I've scratched it and dragged it all down.

Dion is the curator of zoology

at the Northern Territory Wildlife Park,

so his line of work often puts him in the bush

and into contact with these caterpillars.

But beware - they are everywhere.

You don't even need to head out of town to find them.

[Dion] These little grubs,

when they pupate into a little orange moth,

the scales on the moth's legs and the scales on the wings

are also severely irritating,

and they'll land on your washing.

If you've got a line on at night

and the light is shining on your washing,

it's an invitation to the devil.

They'll sit on your sheets,

fully illuminated although often unnoticed,

polluting your washing with fine hairs,

possibly even laying eggs.

When you put your sheets on your bed

and you lie in the bed and: "Oh... oh..."

You know straightaway. D'oh!

Rip the sheets off, new load of sheets and away you go.

The life cycle is short lived

although they are capable of forming into large colonies

that look similar to a stocking hanging in a tree.

The stocking-like formation

is attached to the branch of the tree

with silken threads.

Inside are masses of itchy grubs.

[Dion] And, yeah, you really wouldn't want to

bump into one of those.

That'd be just shocking.

Whilst the itchy grub is unlikely to be fatal,

they can cause swelling of the eyes and throat

so medical attention can be necessary.

Ice packs, soothing lotions and antihistamines

are often recommended to aid the recovery,

but generally you just have to endure the pain.

All it takes is one grub hanging off one silk thread.

If it brushes against the back of your neck,

you're in for a wild ride.

[Dion] One silk thread

with one little tiny caterpillar on it

and it just brushes against the back of your neck and...

[inhales sharply]

Ugh, it's horrible.

Really, really, really annoyingly painful

and horrible.

It really wrecks your weekend.

If you're out fishing somewhere

and you bump into one and you're camping,

it's... like your weekend's going to be hell.

Taking you to hell and back will see this small grub

climb the ranks into second position,

shoving the cobbler and platypus

down to third and fourth.

The deadly spider will hold tight at number one,

but its match may be met

by a deceivingly placid aggressor.

Don't be fooled by the relaxed pace of the gwardar.

It may lure you in, let you think it's a little tired,

that it's not going to bite you,

but beware, this is one snake that has been built for speed

and, when cornered, moves like lightning.

Over logs and scrub, he can quickly outrun a human

across rough terrain.

In the open, on a straight bit of grass and that,

you would outrun him but it'd be close.

His reflexes are very switched on.

As soon as it sees movement, it's gotta react

and it's a nervous reaction.

This is a snake that will at all times run away really fast

but when he's cornered, he will rear up

and that's when he will aggressively defend himself.

If cornered, he's nervous and he'll bite anything.

Gary Davies has been interested in snakes

for as long as he can remember

and now spends much of his time

educating both children and adults

about staying safe around these often-maligned reptiles.

The layman can't generally tell the difference,

so treating all snakes as venomous

and leaving them alone is your best bet.

If you've got some way of telling a venomous

from non-venomous

and there's a snake that doesn't suit your mold,

you can make a mistake very quickly.

Its venom is a highly potent neurotoxin

that contains a procoagulant.

Once bitten, the procoagulant at the bite site

suggests that effect that the blood wants to clot,

so the body sends out a thinning agent

which unfortunately over-thins the blood,

so that it is no longer able to clot.

The upshot is that the victim then hemorrhages

from everywhere they can possibly hemorrhage from

and this massive bleeding if not treated immediately

will most likely result in death.

The gwardar grows to roughly 1.5m

Occasionally a little bigger, although this is quite rare.

In relation to envenomation,

it's the larger snakes that have the larger venom yield,

but it doesn't matter so much

about the quantity of the venom they pump in

as these are one of the most potent snakes in Australia

and are venomous from the day they hatch.

The smallest gwardar that actually killed an adult human

was 60cm long.

And that killed an adult male.

Often people get bitten by mistaken identity.

And unfortunately there was a fatality in Broome

for someone who'd mistaken one of these

for a black-headed python and picked it up

and was bitten and paid the ultimate price.

It's really a venom you want to avoid at all costs.

A member of the brown snake family,

the gwardar is also commonly known as a western brown

and can be found through the middle

as well as across the top half of Australia

from coast to coast.

The brown snakes,

including the eastern brown and the dugite

are a dominant species in Australia.

Collectively, these snakes have the country covered

and are responsible for most of the snakebite deaths

across the land.

It's killed a lot,

but on average we have two deaths a year

Australia-wide by snakebites

so it's not a high number already.

But the vast majority of those

have been from the western brown.

So if you work on about two deaths on average

over the last 30 years,

and a high percentage of them have been from this.

But we've not talking large numbers anyway of deaths,

not in Australia,

because we have such good medical facilities

for snakebite.

Gwardar is the Aboriginal name for this snake

and for thousands of years,

Indigenous Australians have had this snake worked out.

Their advice is still the best there is.

Gwardar actually translates to "go the long way round".

It was how they taught their kids -

if you see this snake, you go the long way around.

Going the long way around is wise,

even if you think it may not be a gwardar

as this snake is difficult to identify,

especially when it's zipping along the ground.

Long and slender is a good clue,

but there are so many variables.

One of the worst identification tools is color.

This one is black and orange with bands and a black head.

But you can get them straw brown, chocolate brown,

you can get an orange one with a black head.

They just have so many different color forms.

Typical is these orange spots going up the whole belly.

If you can see those orange spots on his belly there,

that's real typical of a gwardar - belly spots.

But as an identification tool,

if you're looking at the belly,

you're usually too close.

The gwardar is an elapid snake so it has fixed front fangs

that are like hypodermic needles

from which the venom is injected.

These fangs are quite small in size,

thus making it hard to see the puncture marks.

Plus the bite is usually quite painless,

so the telltale signs of attack are often negligible

until the effects of the venom take control.

This family of snakes have replacement teeth on stand-by

should they lose their front fangs.

These develop along the jawline

and can be rotated into place.

Curiously, every so often,

the snake will stop in its tracks and realign its jaw.

Its favorite food is mice.

And since the introduction of mice into Australia,

the western brown snake's population

has grown dramatically in populated areas.

Combine this, its love for hiding in nooks and crannies,

its agility and aggression when cornered

and venom amongst the most potent in the world,

it's no wonder that the gwardar has been responsible

for most of the snakebite deaths in Australia.

If he's sitting on the path and he's in your way,

you go the long way around.

The Aboriginal people taught their kids

to leave this snake alone, and we should do the same.

Showcasing the new leader, enter the gwardar.

This is one snake that's taken its toll.

It knocks the Sydney funnel-web to second

with a cannonball effect down the list

for our other animals.

But stampeding into the arena

is an animal whose advantage is brute force.

It's also quite curious. But keep your distance.

Yeah, like any big animal,

they can be dangerous, there's no doubt about that.

If you corner a buffalo

or if you come between a cow and her calf,

they'll definitely defend it with a ferocity.

They can be quite aggressive.

With surprising agility for such a big brute,

a hide almost two inches thick and large flat feet

roughly double the size of the hooves of cattle,

this is one menacing animal to be observed from a distance.

[Matt] If you push a bull

or if you annoy him or if you get close to him,

yeah, they'll chase you up a tree.

Matt Kelman lives and works

alongside these imposing beasts

at Carmor Plains - an outback property

neighboring Kakadu National Park

in Australia's Top End.

At over a thousand acres,

this property boasts a magnificent array of birdlife,

wild boar, the ever present saltwater crocodile

and of course water buffalo.

The floodplains provide the perfect lifestyle

for the water buffalo.

But this isn't the place for the fainthearted.

This is an adventure.

Had numerous buffalo chase the motorbike.

They hate motorbikes.

I think it's probably the noise or something,

just that bit different to a vehicle.

They won't take much provocation

to chase a quad bike.

[buffalo brays]

Water buffalo were introduced to Australia

in the 19th century.

Just 80 animals were brought over from Indonesia

to support remote northern communities.

Almost two centuries later,

there are well over 150,000 inhabiting the wetlands

of the Territory.

Whilst they are destructive to the environment,

they've made this land their home,

adapting to all conditions.

[Matt] They can run like a rocket.

But because they're out in that mud,

that wet mud's that deep, it's just bottomless,

and they've got huge feet

that'll help them move through the mud.

And then some of the buffalo we've seen in the airboat

are in a meter of water.

So it's incredibly hard to walk through it

and a lot of it's all tangled in grass, so they lunge,

they kinda lunge through it, they jump through it.

But, yeah, on hard, dry land

water buffalo's probably faster than Brahman.

Incredibly fast.

Over a short distance, they're insanely quick.

Water buffaloes are quite long living,

with cows reaching roughly 25 to 30 years.

For bulls, it's a little shorter -

to around 20 years.

The bulls are generally bigger all over

and their horns are a lot thicker.

A big bull averages around 800 to 900 kilos

and a cow probably pushes up around 650 kilos.

Clearly a massive animal, but, despite its bulk,

is capable of surprising

anyone who is a little too close.

As a rule, it is quite inquisitive.

It'll want to know what you're up to.

But even wild buffalo are naturally curious, you know.

They'll come over and check something out.

Yeah. Yeah. Just can't help themselves. Yeah.

But often you get a bull, if he's curious,

he'll come over, have a look

and then he might get himself in a situation

where then he's forced to attack something or someone.

These beasts will often snort or bellow before they charge.

Plus their body language is quite recognizable

when irritated.

Taking quite a majestic stance,

they'll start to shark their head.

Then a bull will typically drop his nose

to show off his horns.

If you see these signs beforehand,

you can probably get yourself out of danger.

But there isn't always a warning.

People that have been killed by buffalo,

it's often the case where it's an unseen animal,

it's a cow.

You know, they might've been watching a bull

that was appearing to be aggressive

and a cow will come out of a herd.

And whether it be fellas working in yards

or whether it be out in the paddock,

the cow might have a calf planted

right where someone's working on a fence

and he doesn't even know that and the cow will flatten them.

If you're out in the bush by yourself working,

if it's a bad injury, you're done for.

A lot of guys who work with them, with the export trade,

have been horned or gored.

A lot of people survive the injury

if someone's there to help chase the bull away.

There has been a number of deaths over the years.

Not something to be messed around with.

Defying the buffalo's dangerous persona

is possibly Australia's best known water buffalo -

the much-loved Charlie who co-starred with Paul Hogan

in the hit movie Crocodile Dundee.

Charlie gave up the glitz and glamour

of his Hollywood career

to retire at the Adelaide River Inn,

about an hour's south of Darwin,

where he was still able to bask in the limelight.

He was very friendly, guests could come along and ride him,

so they used to go for walks around in his pen

and he used to be patted a lot

by all the guests coming through.

He used to hang out the front there

and he used to greet tourists.

They used to be able to pat him, ride him, feed him.

His favorite thing to eat was carrot cake.

So he was just an all-round star.

Charlie, his stage name, known as Nick before stardom,

was found as a poddy calf on the side of the road

and rescued by a local

who took him to the Darwin Zoo.

It was during his time at the zoo

that he was selected for Crocodile Dundee,

Weighing in at 1,000 kilos with a horn width of 2.25m,

he was an ideal choice

to play the wild and ferocious buffalo.

Charlie was 30 years old when he passed away

which is quite old for a buffalo.

He actually suffered with an illness towards the end.

He had pneumonia, so he had to be put down.

Otherwise he'd probably still be living on.

On carrot cake, yeah.

Even though Charlie was hand-reared

and certainly well tamed,

he was still a young bull

during the Crocodile Dundee movies

and was pacified with medication whilst on set

just as a precaution.

As with so many wild animals,

predicting their behavior can put your own life at risk.

Trust is a human trait.

The expectation that animals will toe the line

on this characteristic is not a given.

Always be cautious.

With a big animal,

they deserve a certain amount of respect.

They'll charge just unprovoked.

There's no bluff. They will come right through.

You just have to get out of the way if you can.

If you don't get out of the way,

the water buffalo could end it all.

But not enough to take it any further

than third in the arena.

This tumbles the itchy grub, cobbler and platypus

further down the rankings,

whilst the Sydney funnel-web spider clings to second spot

behind the indisputable top stakeholder -

the nervous but deadly gwardar.

"Keeping a wide berth" is the Aboriginal terminology

for this animal,

but it is great advice for all 72 of our animals.

So the countdown begins.

We've previously featured six of our 72 dangerous animals

already claiming their spots in the top ten state of play.

However, not all of them will maintain their lineup.

There are now 12 animals vying for these ten key positions.

The bull shark has first claim to number one.

It'll most likely attack if you're swimming nearby

and attack to kill,

so, without a doubt, it holds the crown.

The dugite is a member of the brown snake family

as is the gwardar, but it pushes the dugite to third.

Both highly venomous, both could kill you,

but the gwardar is incredibly widespread across the country

and has claimed more victims so it slides in at number two.

The Johnston's crocodile is not to be messed with

and will defend itself, inflicting horrible wounds.

It'll hold its spot at number four.

However, the Sydney funnel-web spider

is going to push its way in at number five,

with the water buffalo charging right behind

into number six,

bumping the irukandji down to seven.

The irukandji is capable

of causing excruciating pain for days on end,

so it's not budging from its spot.

Nor is the sawfish, settling in at number eight,

followed by the cane toad at nine.

Taking the tenth spot on the list

is the horrendously nasty itchy grub.

One hair and your life changes to scratching marathon

of red welts and seemingly endless pain.

An impressive list of dangerous animals,

but our next program

will introduce six more players to the arena

and change the state of play

in the search for the most dangerous.

With all of our Australian animals,

there is a fear factor.

But keep in mind they're unlikely to harm you

unless you're unlucky enough or foolish enough

to get in their way.

Be cautious, take note of the warnings

and show respect

as we count down the list

of 72 Dangerous Animals Australia.

Captions by CSI Australia