Almost 30,000 Brits were sent to NHS hospitals for animal attacks last year, with crocodiles, fish and scorpions just some of the culprits, MailOnline can reveal.
Of these, more than 10,000 were classified as emergency admissions, meaning the victims needed urgent care to save a life or limb.
NHS data shows that dogs were the most dangerous animal in England overall in the 2023-24 financial year, with almost 11,000 bites and hits, the latter when a canine knocks someone down.
Of these, almost 4,000 were emergency cases requiring urgent medical attention.
But much more exotic and even mundane animals were also responsible for sending the British to the hospital; crocodiles, fish and even millipedes are just some of those that appear in NHS data.
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After man’s best friend, bites and stings from non-venomous insects were the next most important cause of Britons needing animal-related hospital care.
This group of bugs, which includes animals such as spiders, ticks and beetles, sent more than 6,000 people to the hospital last year, half of which were emergency cases.
While the NHS data does not detail the exact medical reason why people needed care in these circumstances, allergic reactions could be a major cause of needing hospital care for what is normally a minor ailment.
Third in animal attacks was a large group called “other mammals” in the NHS data.
Nearly 5,000 Britons required hospital care for this group of creatures, which include favorite farm animals such as cows and horses, as well as some household pets such as ferrets and cats.
Of these cases, only one in four was classified as an emergency.
The most common creatures in British life accounted for the majority of animal-related injuries, but some Britons were unlucky enough to need treatment for an unusual animal attack.
Seven Britons were diagnosed with medical problems after being bitten or hit by a crocodile or alligator, and one of these incidents was a medical emergency.
No crocodiles are native to the British Isles, meaning these incidents are likely to be linked to people working with or visiting the reptiles as part of zoos or wildlife experiences.
Other rare animal attacks involved incidents with scorpions and tropical venomous centipedes and millipedes, with four and one cases of Britons seeking medical help last year respectively. These incidents were likely related to zoos or exotic pet owners.
Even the water was unsafe and almost 100 Britons were sent to hospital after bites or bumps from marine animals such as fish or stings from aquatic inhabitants such as jellyfish.
On a case-by-case basis, marine animals such as fish, sharks and dolphins were found to be some of the most dangerous in the UK and more than half were classified as emergency.
This was closely followed by bee stings, which pose a great danger to allergy sufferers.
Other strange reasons Brits needed NHS care last financial year included 91 cases of toxic mushroom consumption, 14 lightning strikes and four incidents where people needed help after experiencing a volcanic eruption.
The NHS data is anonymised and only reveals the age and sex of patients, a general description of the location of the incident and whether the case was an emergency.
Furthermore, it only records admissions, not individual patients, meaning that, in theory, an individual Briton could appear more than once in the figures.
