Why do venomous snakes kill thousands of people every year throughout the world.?
Of the over 5 million snake bites estimated to occur every year, only approximately 125,000 are fatal. Compare that to the over one million deaths a year from malaria, or the over seven million deaths due to heart failure, and the total doesn’t seem quite so impressive. Snakes do not seek out humans to bite. They strike as a defensive measure only, and many snakes will strike with a closed mouth first, only resorting to biting when they have no other choice. There are so many snake bites each year because humans are encroaching on snake habitat more and more every year. It’s not the fault of the snakes – they were there first, and they are only defending themselves in the only way they can.
