ExtinctZoo - The Most Dangerous Rabid Animal To Exist

Episode Date: June 10, 2026

Rabies in animals is always scary, but a rabid wolf is a whole other ball game, so much so that its often been dubbed the deadliest kind of rabid animal...let me explain.

This episode is brought to you by Activia. You might already be eating yogurt, but not all yogurts are created equal. Activia contains over one billion probiotics per serving to survive and reach the gut alive. When it comes to gut health, Activia is the number one family doctor-recommended probiotic yogurt brand. Choose Activia. Feel good from the inside out. Visitactivia.ca for more details. Of the thousands, two millions of viral diseases that exist in nature, nearly none are as vicious, sinister, or horrifying, as rabies, a viral disease that is caused by Lissivirus rabies. It is a type of neutropic virus, meaning it can affect nerve tissue, and is historically known to have spread to the saliva of infected animals.

And of the pathogens we know of, rabies is one of the longest stories in human history, as even over 4,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, where modern Iraq sits, they wrote on tablets, strictly. rules regarding rabid dogs, and the punishment bestowed on owners who let their infected pets bite men or slaves. And given these historical accounts, it also means that the rabies is one of the oldest viruses known to humans, and over the years has no doubt claimed an untold amount of lives. I mean, even today, with the progress we've made combating this virus, such as through the invention of the vaccine, post-exposure treatment, and monitoring animal populations, it stills responsible for roughly 59,000 deaths worldwide each and every year, with many researchers actually believing the true number of victims to be much higher.

And part of the problem is that rabies is extremely fatal. Now, yes, it is an almost entirely avoidable disease if one takes the proper shots and treatment steps after a bite. However, if you are bit, do not do this, and then begin exhibiting symptoms, you are basically a goner, as the emergence of symptoms means the virus has bypassed your immune system and enter the central nervous system, thus spelling almost certain doom, with the fatality rate to that point, essentially being 100%. In fact, thus far, only 31 to perhaps 34 cases throughout history are known of where someone

has developed rabies symptoms and survived. And then of those bunch, only two of them fully recovered, with the rest suffering from permanent neurological issues, and in some cases even dying months or years after due to the lingering effects. Is something else that makes rabies so remarkably scary besides just its mortality rate is how it actually kills you. Because at first the symptoms tend to be non-specific, itching at the side of exposure and some flu-like symptoms. Nothing major and definitely no clear sign that your pending doom is coming

fast. Eventually these symptoms become more extreme as you start to develop seizures, paralysis, sensitivity to light, sounds, and even touch. While then your brain starts to rapidly inflame, causing massive neurological disruptions can lead to respiratory and cardiac failure. However, of all the symptoms that rabies can cause, what most people think of when they picture this disease is the violent erratic mental state that some victims experience, you know, where they basically lash out and bite out whatever they can. And though this violent state is synonymous with rabies, it's actually a symptom that is only seen in one of the two forms of the disease,

known as Furious Rabies. Whereas then you also have the more rare kind known as the dumb rabies. And of the two, Furious is far more common with 80% of patients experiencing it. And this form is also heavily associated with hydrophobia, another hallmark sign of rabies, which occurs when someone develops an intense fear of water. They can be so intense sometimes that attempting to drink water causes painful convulsions of the throat, with a sheer idea of drinking or hearing sounds of water,

possibly causing them to have those spasms. And this is all part of the virus's plan, so to speak, as it spreads through saliva, and thus would not want you diluting your precious spit with water. Well, then the infection also ramps up saliva production overall, so that transmission is easier. And this often leads to another classic sign of the disease, which is extreme foaming from the mouth. And technically, every animal that can get rabies can also acquire this furious form. Yet, the fury part does seem to differ in how it manifests animal from animal. Those that tend to be more territorial and aggressive naturally, such as foxes, cats, or dogs, tend to become more violent and problematic than animals like sheep or cattle.

I mean, there is a reason why the horror movie Coojo was about a dog and not a goat. Here's the thing, though. That movie could have actually been a whole lot scarier and deadlier, as it did not feature the rabbit animal, which some have claimed to experience the most furious level rabies amongst all animals. with one report even dubbing it the most dangerous possible creature to get infected. And this would be the wolf. Now, most cases of human rabies that happen today, and even historically, are not caused by the wolf.

Yet, if we look at what animals causes the most infections per capita, then it's a different story, as the average rabid wolf causes far more mayhem than what multiple rabid dogs or bats could cause, for example. Not to mention that one rabid wolf is also deadlier in general, with one meta-analysis of various animals, finding that the bite of a rabid wolf was roughly 15 times deadlier than the bite of a rabid dog. Thankfully, though, these canines are not the primary reservoirs for rabies. But when that rare infection occurs, boy oh boy, is it a scary story. And rabid wolves are often touted as being a whole different ballgame

as far as how they operate whilst infected, with them being almost demon-like. Some of this has to do without capable these guys are just overall, as they are apex predators, after all, being both larger than dogs and possessing far greater stamina. Additionally, the bones of wolves are more robust and denser, allowing them to tackle large animals, while then their bites have been recorded to measure 1,200 pounds per square inch in force, which, to put that in perspective, is over five times the strength of a pit bull's bite. And so when you combine all of this with their pretty territorial behavior and remarkable senses, you basically get a mobile disaster that only brings death, destruction, and mayhem.

And sadly, we know all too well that this is reality, is there are multiple historical accounts that support the notion that a single rabbit wolf can kill many. And something that makes them unique during the furious stage compared to other animals, is that they will often travel huge distances, with some rabbit wolves reportedly running up to 30 miles or 48 kilometers in a day, meaning in a sense that you have a better chance of getting away from lightning that is a striking distance of 10 miles than a rabbit wolf. What's more is that, unlike some animals that tend to only bite one or two people,

wolves will commonly find as many victims as they can. And this will sometimes involve them going into one single village, attacking dozens of humans and livestock, and then dipping to another village and do the same thing. And then rinse and repeat a few more times at that, leading to rabid wolves killing far more animals on average. Furthermore, what's a bit more sinister about rabies and wolves is the extreme... Visit BetMDMDM Casino and check out the newest exclusive,

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Beam variability in how violent each individual attack is. For example, a wolf may rush into an area, bite the hand of a few people, then leave them alone to presumably get rabies down the road, while then the next people it attacks, it might fully kill and proceed to rip apart, in some cases even disemboweling them or removing limbs. And it can turn this dial of a intensity, so to speak, up quite fast, as wolves can administer numerous bites in a short amount of time, with one attack in 1823, reporting that a man was bit in over 80 places in just a couple of minutes.

And as of now, no one is sure why one victim may get a mild bite, while then another is shredded to literal pieces. However, what does seem to be the case regardless is that the rapid wolf won't even bother to eat its kill. It just simply moves on to its next target. And another tricky aspect of rapid wolves, as if there could be more, is that all their logic and survival rationale is replaced with, well, madness, at least in the sense that pain, sounds, or sights that would usually scare the bejesus out of a wolf has no effect on a rampaging infected. And this is demonstrated by one attack that occurred in the early 1900s when a family in rural Montana reported to being attacked by a rabid wolf that first attacked the father and refused to let go even after

having been struck repeatedly by an axe. It was only after being shot on its shoulder that has stopped finally biting the dead. However, instead of fleeing, the beast doubled down and set its sight on the daughter who had fired the shots and charged her with quote-unquote red eyes filled with hate and madness. Fortunately though, the daughter remained calm enough to fire a second round that ripped through its heart and thus finally bringing it down. And remember, this incident occurred at a time with modern firearms. So now imagine a rabid wolf in medieval times or one running through an area where no one is properly armed. And just one word for you there. Massacre. And there are reported cases of such attacks. Even in the late 1970s, stuff like this was still occurring, with one report

coming from the Arangabad district of India, where on February 3rd, 1973, a rabid wolf was reported attacking several villages across the region. And during this day, the attack started at 5 in the morning and lasted for 12 hours, which is not necessarily a whole lot of time, and yet the wolf managed to attack six separate villages over a distance of 23 kilometers, malling 12 people, three large bowls, a dog, and a couple of pigs. And three of the people attacked suffered major bites of the head, and despite getting rabies treatment afterwards, they still ended up all dying. In this abysmal result, despite having post-exposure prophylaxis, likely that's to do with those devastating bites that the wolves are capable of, which allowed the virus to penetrate far deep

into the victim's flesh than the bites of other animals, and thus speeding up the infection. And as one account, nicely summed it up, quote, wolves are far more furious and more ferocious, primarily attacking the head, face, neck, and uncovered parts. The attack is frenzied and vicious, with numerous deep and extensive bites. Wolves will shred tissues, sometimes go through, two, and break bones, and cause considerable damage, impregnating the many wounds with its virulent saliva. Meanwhile, all the animals victim to this large-scale attack, died, as well, either from their injuries outright or from rabies, with even an additional

dogs to come into rabies after eating the remains of one of the slain pigs. And guess what? This attack is not even at the bad end of the spectrum of rabid wolf attacks, as they can occur on a much larger scale. And this was seen in France back in 1851, where a local hospital, police report, and a letter from a government ministry, all confirmed that in the realm of the largest forest, a rabid wolf from the span of seven hours traveled 45 kilometers and rampaged through nine villages, biting over 40 people, which includes 19 children, and then on top of that, 96 different animals, including 64 cows, 14 horses, 8 sheep, 6 pigs, 3 goats, and 1 dog. And if you add that all up, that's 136 victims,

meaning that despite traveling for 45 kilometers, the wolf still managed to bite something every 3 minutes, approximately. And over the coming many months, dozens perished as rabies took hold, while many of the animals died as well. But one thing to note here is that not everyone bit actually died, despite this taking place prior to rabies treatment being invented. And this does highlight how there's a bit of luck involved with rabies, as not all attacked will become infected,

with those chances coming down to how much of the virus was actually delivered. However, with that said, no one, and I mean absolutely no one, should be taking any chances of rabies, no matter how insignificant the bite was. As in 1868, for example, a rabbit wolf attack in Kansas, left one man with a slightly bitten finger.

And given its location to what doctors knew about the disease, they did advise the man to amputate his finger. However, he refused. And ultimately that decision cost him his life. As a few months later, he developed a virus and died. And that is the other nightmarish aspect where people were attacked by these rabid wolves, or any rabbit animal for that matter.

The part afterwards we don't know if you're going to be okay, or go insane and die. A horrifying mental anguish, especially considering that this virus can have an incubation period as long as seven years. seven years. However, with that said, most incubation periods are usually much shorter than seven years, typically ranging from one to three months. And given how nightmarish this disease is, many victims of rabid wolf attacks suffered for these times, as on top of their presumable wounds,

they were often treated with superstitioned by their peers, as the dangers of rabid wolves were well-known in most areas. And while we don't know the exact numbers of how many people were killed by rabid wolves before the advent of modern medical practices, there are death records from preceding centuries that attribute rapid wolves as the most spectacular and direct source of infection for men. Thankfully, even though rapid wolves are still a thing once in a blue moon, the overall incident rate of humans being attacked or killed by them has fallen dramatically. And that's because not only have we figured out a pretty good way to treat people after attacks, but also because many countries have adopted strict rules and guidelines on monitoring wild populations, leading to some

actually now being considered rabies-free, including those that were once ravaged by the disease extensively, like France, where once upon a time, Bell tolls were even associated with rabid wolves, as they were typically rung to alert the villagers of danger. And even in most places where rabies is still present, the danger of rabid wolves has decreased dramatically. Now, with this said, the danger is still present in enough levels, where I personally would still be running to the next country if I saw a wolf with any visible hint of anger. And to be honest, I'd probably start running if I saw a wolf, period. Thanks for watching, and until next time. With Wayfair, ever order furniture online and wonder what if?

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