When we grow up, we are taught not to judge a book by its cover. That advice mostly applies to humans, but it’s not a bad idea when dealing with Mother Nature either. Some animals found in nature may look incredibly cute and adorable, but are actually very dangerous and should best be avoided. Let’s take a look at some of these cute but deadly creatures and what makes them so dangerous to us.

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Leopard Seal

You may think of seals as the dogs of the ocean, and you’d probably be somewhat right, but then leopard seals would be the badly raised and abused Rottweilers of the ocean. They’re incredibly aggressive and the best advice that we can give people is basically “stay away”.

Leopard Seal

Panda Bear

While Kung Fu Panda was a work of fiction and panda bears are herbivores by nature, they have the jaw strength to bite through bamboo stems. If they’re feeling particularly territorial and attack a human, the results are often severe puncture wounds and if you’re very unlucky even death.

Panda Bear

Slow Loris

Nothing could happen when approaching a slow loris, right? Well, these little creatures are actually capable of producing a strong toxin that they can not only mix into their saliva, but also their fur. That’s right, they could poison you if you just touch them.

Slow Loris

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Elephant

Contrary to what most people think, elephants are actually animals that get annoyed super easily. And if you’re as big as an elephant is, all you have to do if something annoys you is just step on it. There’s about 500 people each year that annoyed and elephant and didn’t live to tell the tale.

Elephant

Poison Dart Frog

This small boy may look gorgeous with his color scheme, he’s also one of the most poisonous creatures on the planet. They hold enough poison to kill about 20,000 mice at any given time, which just begs the question how many mice a man is and whether you want to risk it or not.

Poison Dart Frog

Hippopotamus

While this big oaf may look like he just wants to cuddle, a hippopotamus can easily outrun a human and attacks with no predictable warnings. They’re responsible for over 500 deaths in Africa per year, which is slightly less than 1,5 deaths per day.

Hippopotamus

Blue-Ringed Octopus

This small and gorgeous octopus may look like one of the most beautiful things on the planet, it also holds enough toxin to outright kill 26 adult people in a matter of minutes. I doubt even John Wick can present numbers like that.

Blue-Ringed Octopus