While gorillas and crocodiles have been making headlines this week, these aren't the animals we need to fear.
According to Bill Gates' list of the world's deadliest animals, the top spot goes to... mosquitoes.
Unlike mosquitoes, gorillas typically attack only if they feel threatened.
That's why the shooting of a gorilla in a United States zoo has sparked such outrage around the world.
A 4-year-old boy was visiting Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden in Ohio on Saturday when he fell into the gorilla enclosure. The zoo fatally shot Harambe, the 17-year-old great ape, to protect the boy.
Would the same have happened in New Zealand? In short, it's hard to say.
Hamilton Zoo have said tigers, chimpanzees, and wild dogs are on its shoot-to-kill list if they pose any danger to the public.
General Manager Community Lance Vervoort said tranquilisers are not an option for Hamilton's dangerous animals because tranquilisers take 10 minutes to work.
These "category one" animals would be shot if they escaped or if someone found themselves inside an enclosure.
Recapture of all other species would usually be attempted, with the option to use tranquiliser darts. But the use of a firearm is still an option if the animal threatens human life.
Wellington Zoo last year said if there was a mass escape, chimpanzees would be shot first.
As well as being inquisitive and adventurous, the animals can be "anything up to 10 times the strength of a person" and are known to hunt other primates in the wild.
Christchurch's Orana Wildlife Park is home to the country's only gorillas.
The troop consists of three males: Western Lowland gorillas Fataki (a 190-kilogram silverback), Fuzu, and Mahali.
Marketing manager Nathan Hawke said Orana wasn't in a position to comment on how it would react if it found itself in the same situation as Cincinnati.
Thankfully, Orana hasn't experienced a similar situation, he said.
"A lot of this is just too speculative.
"Our view is, one, we can't really comment on what happened at the other zoo and, two, it's tricky for us to comment on a speculative basis. We don't think we're adding value on that basis."
Critics have hit back at the Ohio zoo and the boy's mother for their actions.
Facebook page Justice for Harambe, set up to "raise awareness of the murder", has received almost 80,000 "likes".
"Shooting an endangered animal is worse than murder," a commenter from Denmark named Per Serensen wrote on the page. "Soooo angry."
However, at a news conference on Monday, zoo director Thane Maynard said people should not underestimate the amount of danger the child was in as the massive creature clutched the child's leg and dragged him across the enclosure.
"We're talking about an animal that I've seen crush a coconut with one hand," Maynard said, noting that the animal had become disoriented by the situation, making his behaviour even harder to predict.
"The child was being dragged around, his head was banging on concrete. This was not a gentle thing."
The boy, whose name was not released, has been discharged from hospital.
Video of another gorilla protecting a boy who fell into the animal's enclosure has people questioning whether Harambe's death was an overreaction.
The two incidents, which happened 30 years apart, have striking similarities.
However, one ended in a gorilla protecting a child and later being celebrated as a "gentle giant", while the other ended in an endangered animal being shot.
HARAMBE WAS DESCRIBED AS A SILVERBACK, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Troops are led by one dominant older adult male, often called a silverback because of the swath of silver hair that adorns his otherwise dark fur.
Troops also include several other young males, some females, and their offspring. The leader organises troop activities like eating, nesting in leaves, and moving about the home range.
ARE GORILLAS DANGEROUS?
Those who challenge the alpha male can expect an impressive show of physical power. Despite these displays, gorilla's are generally calm and non-agressive.
In captivity, gorillas have displayed significant intelligence and have even learned simple human sign language.
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