From fearsome fish with giant 6-inch fangs, to evil insects that wipe out 12,000 people every year, and even ludicrously large leeches with an insatiable appetite for blood, the Amazon is filled with some critters that seem purpose-built to send shivers down your spine. Let's delve into the scariest animals found in the Amazon!
Scary Snakes: Green Anaconda, Titanoboa & Yacumama
When it comes to scary animals in the Amazon, where better to start than the green anaconda? Stretching to a stupendous 30 feet with a chunky 12-inch width, the largest of these snakes come in at 550 pounds, more than three times the weight of a typical human!
But what really makes green anacondas so downright disturbing is their immense power. As they’re non-venomous, they rely on their crushing constriction abilities, coiling their muscular bodies around captured prey and squeezing until the poor critter asphyxiates. It's not recommended to get as close as the man in the clip below!
Catching a wild Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus) in central Veneuzela. 2007. by Matthew Halley If you ever happen to cross paths with these monsters, you’d think you could at least escape by diving straight into the Amazon River. But no, these rascally reptiles even have that figured. Green anacondas are semi-aquatic! Incredibly, they can hold their breath underwater for more than 10 minutes, meaning swimming away from these monsters ain’t looking likely. Even after green anacondas run out of breath they can remain underwater, as their eyes and nostrils are also located on top of their heads, allowing them to see and breathe while submerged! There really is no escaping those terrors!
But scary as all that sounds, did you know that the Amazon might be home to an even more frightful serpent? Around 60 million years ago this prehistoric snake, which stretched around 50 feet long and weighed as much as a whopping 2,500 pounds, ruled the Amazon. Meet the Titanoboa!
Thankfully, this scary snake has supposedly been extinct for around 58 million years. Saying that, there’ve been numerous claimed sightings of the Titanoboa in recent times. Arguably the most famous account came from Percy Fawcett, a British explorer, who, in the early 20th century wrote about what he witnessed in the Amazon. “We stepped ashore and approached the reptile with caution. As far as it was possible to measure, a length of forty-five feet lay out of the water, and seventeen feet in it, making a total length of sixty-two feet.” Fortunately, most people passed Fawcett’s tale off as nothing more than a good story. Even still, the Amazon covers over 2.5 million square miles of land, making it well over ten times the size of France. What’s to say some super-snake isn’t hiding in its depths? If all that wasn’t frightful enough, there are also stories of yet another supersized serpent in the Amazon. According to indigenous tribes across the region, there’ve been numerous sightings of the dreaded Yacumama.
This snake, believed to be the mother of all aquatic animals, is said to measure close to 200 feet long, making it 6 times lengthier than the largest green anaconda. Even more chillingly, according to whispers within the rainforest, the Yacumama can supposedly ‘suck up’ any living being that comes within 100 paces of it, like some sort of vicious vacuum!
On top of that, it’s even said this mega monster can create whirlpools by thrashing its colossal body in the water! In the early 1900’s, a boat of two men supposedly spotted the Yacumama in the Amazon River and dropped an explosive into the water, hoping to wipe out the creature. After the explosive detonated, the soaring snake rose from the water, before swimming off, leaving the men with chills down their spines.
Vampire Wasp
But supersized snakes aren’t the only thing that you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled on in the Amazon. Any animal with vampire in its name ain’t gonna be too friendly, and that’s certainly the case with the vampire wasp.
First discovered by researchers in 2023, these intimidating insects grow to 0.7 inches, making them around twice the size of your typical wasp. However, what makes these guys so fearsome isn’t their size, but what they do to their prey. When a female vampire wasp finds a suitable target, typically a caterpillar, beetle, or spider, she’ll deposit an egg inside the host by piercing it with her ovipositor, a needle-like, egg-laying organ. That’s right, the vampire wasp essentially injects insects with its own offspring.
As their name suggests, vampire wasps also have a taste for the red stuff. Turns out, after stabbing their hosts with their ovipositor, the female will slurp down the hemolymph, a bloodlike fluid found in insects, which seeps from the wound. As if they haven’t suffered enough! Yet, the nightmare still isn’t over there. After a few days, the eggs that’ve been planted inside the stricken host will hatch into larvae, before they eat the insect’s corpse from the inside out. Nature is brutal.
Vampire Fish
Speaking of vampires, that brings us onto our next brutal beast. Reaching close to 4-foot, this species of fish is known as a payara, or vampire fish. No prizes for guessing how they got that name!
These fiery fish come armed with two terrifying 6 inch fans on their lower jaw. And those gnashers aren’t just for show either. They use their super sharp teeth to skewer whatever fish dare to venture too close, even piranhas! While there’ve been no recorded attacks on humans, would you really wanna swim in waters containing these frightful fish?
Amazon River Dolphins
Payara aren’t the only wicked water-based creature found in the Amazon River. Dolphins are usually known for their playfulness and intelligence, but Amazon River dolphins have a much darker side.
For starters, much like payaras, they love nothing more than tearing chunks out of piranhas. Even more horrifyingly though, these marine mammals have developed a taste for us humans too. And with 28 pairs of these menacing molars filling their snouts, that’s not good news!
Back in 2023, one unfortunate 28 year-old woman found that out for herself. While paddling in the river, she spotted one of these pink dolphins gliding under the water’s surface. Yet strangely, it was heading straight for her. Probably not thinking much of it, the woman remained in the water. That’d quickly become a massive mistake. In a moment, the devilish dolphin sunk its teeth into her leg, not letting go for 20 seconds! Thankfully
the woman survived, though she did suffer deep tissue damage to her foot. The Amazon is so cursed that even the dolphins here are hellish!
Kissing Bug
This bug has gained a reputation for getting a little too personal. But don’t get it twisted, these insects found throughout Central and South America certainly aren’t lovable romantics!
These nocturnal bugs buzz about at night, searching for any sleeping animals to feed on. Once they’ve locked in on a target, they’ll insert their needle-like proboscis into their host, before slurping on the poor soul’s blood. However, when it comes to us humans, kissing bugs decide to ramp up the horror even more. They get their name thanks to their tendency of biting humans around the lips. Though the bite’s painless, it comes with some very nasty side-effects. That’s because, after slurping up your blood, these eerie insects will, and there’s no simple way to say this, defecate on you.
Not only is that insanely disgusting, it’s also deadly. Often these bugs carry a parasite, known as Trypanosoma cruzi. If anyone bitten by an infected bug happens to smear its feces into the open wound, it can cause
Chagas disease. That’s really not something you want. Initially, anyone infected will experience mild symptoms, like fevers, muscle pain, or headaches. However, as much as 30% of infected people can develop long-lasting, serious health complications from this illness. This ranges from stomach pains and constipation, to heart failure and cardiac arrest. Tragically, this disease is so deadly, it wipes out some 12,000 people every year. And all that from an unsuspecting insect getting a little too familiar!
Spiny Devil Katydid
Though our next Amazonian insect won’t be giving you a perilous peck on the lips, that doesn’t make it any less terrifying. As its name suggests, the spiny devil katydid ain’t a critter to be messed with!
Measuring around 3 inches, they’re not horrifyingly huge. But what they lack in size, they make up for in sheer nightmare fuel. At first glance, these critters don’t look much different from any old cricket. However, take a closer look and you’ll see their head and six legs are covered in spiny, thorn-like projections! Talk about a spiky customer!
As you’ve probably guessed, those spines aren’t some sort of decorative armor. Spiny devil katydid’s thrust their lethal legs either to fight off predators, or ensnare any poor prey. Though they don’t have any teeth, they’re able to easily devour dinner thanks to their large mandibles! In fact, it’s said a spiny devil katydid’s bite is so fierce, it can even slice through human skin! Before you start hyperventilating, you’ll be glad to know, these conniving critters prefer to munch down on seeds, fruit, and any helpless insect they can get their menacing mandibles around, rather than us humans! Even still, knowing a super-spiky, menacing-mouthed cricket is lurking amongst the rainforest’s foliage is enough for me to give the Amazon a miss!
Mapinguary
Back in 2014, a group of berry pickers were delving deep into the Brazilian Amazon, when out of nowhere, they heard a strange sound. It was a spine-chilling cry from some beast in the rainforest. One of the harvesters began imitating the cry, when they suddenly realized that the noise was getting closer and closer. Then, there was a loud crash, before a dark, tall creature with one reddish, flaming eye was staring down at them. In a moment, they ran for their canoe, and sailed back to their village as quick as they could.
Thankfully, all of the berry pickers escaped unscathed. Still, they couldn’t sleep for days afterwards, and refused to return to that section of the rainforest ever again. So, what beast had they encountered? Well, for some theorists out there, it may’ve been the
mapinguary, a mythical monstrous creature that’s said to live amongst the dense foliage of the Amazon. According to Brazilian folklore, the mapinguary can stand on two or four legs, is at least 7 feet tall standing upright, has shaggy hair, and possesses a cyclops eye. This sounds like some prime Hollywood fiction! However, according to rainforest biologist, David Oren, there’ve been more than 80 reported mapinguary sightings over the years! So, is there really some crazed cyclops creature roaming the rainforest? Well, probably not. Zoologists who’ve heard stories of the mapinguary, believe the most likely explanation is a case of mistaken identity. For many, the most likely culprit is the spectacled bear. Though these mammals aren’t known for habituating the Amazon rainforest, they do occasionally venture down from the mountains in the western Amazon during the winter.
They’re usually on all fours, but can stretch close to 7 feet when standing upright. They also possess these strange markings on their head, which, when in the dense, shadowy rainforest, could certainly be mistaken for a cyclops eye by any terrified onlookers. For now, the true identity of the mapinguary remains a mystery.
Harpy Eagle
So far, we’ve delved into the terrors that prowl the land and watery depths of the Amazon, but don’t be fooled into thinking the skies above are safe. Whether it’s the striking crown of feathers, that piercing look, or its bulky build, the harpy eagle certainly isn’t a bird you wanna mess with. Imagine having that thing death staring down at you while you’re trekking through the rainforest!
As you’ve probably already worked out, these fearsome flyers are menacingly massive too! Harpy eagles have a wingspan of 7 and a half feet, and weigh in at a hefty 20 pounds. That makes them the 6th largest bird of prey in the world and the biggest found throughout the Amazon! Yet, awe-inspiring as their size is, it’s their wicked weapons of choice that truly send shivers down the spine. Take a look at this eagle’s talons!
Measuring some 5 inches in length, these talons are the largest of any eagle on the planet! For some perspective, they’re so large, they’re around the size of a grizzly bear claw! Armed with such crazy catchers, harpy eagles can take down a whole host of prey. Two-foot-long howler monkeys? No problem. Eight-pound sloths? Easy pickings. Even small deer aren’t safe from the harpy eagle’s vice-like grasp.
Spectral Bat
But harpy eagles aren’t the only shadow in the Amazon sky that’ll strike fear into your heart! With a wingspan stretching over 3 feet long, the spectral bat is the largest bat in the western hemisphere. For context, that’s over double the wingspan of the hoary bat, the most prevalent species in the U.S.
While seeing a great, big bat glide over your head would be terrifying enough, what makes spectral bats truly petrifying is their devilish dome! Whether it’s their eerie ears, devilish snout, or, most chillingly of all these grizzly gnashers, spectral bats certainly are a frightful sight!
Typically, bats nibble on fruits or insects, not these guys, though. Thanks to their menacing maws, they have far more bloodthirsty ambitions. Stalking their prey from above, these bats zoom down, before delivering a fatal bite to the top of their prey’s head or neck. They’ll happily dine on anything they can fit their mouth around, from birds, to rodents, and even other species of bat!
Amazon Giant Leech
While you may be looking to the skies to dodge any harpy eagles or spectral bats diving down, you’ll also want to check the Amazon’s rainforest floor for our next sizeable, slimy customer. Growing to a gargantuan 18 inches, the Amazon giant leech is around 9 times the size of a typical leech! You won’t be surprised to know that there cat-sized proportions make them the largest freshwater leech in the world!
But their stupendous size isn’t the only thing that sets these guys apart from your typical leech. While most leeches use rows of teeth to puncture the skin and draw blood, the Amazon giant leech takes things to a whole new, horrifying level. They’ll burrow their long proboscis up to 6 inches into any poor host, allowing them to slurp blood until their belly’s are full. It sounds horribly painful, but most critters actually won’t feel a thing. That’s because the leeches secrete a cocktail of chemicals that numb the area the proboscis pierces. As well as that, the leech’s saliva contains a strong anticoagulant that increases blood flow, allowing them to slurp away.
Based on the size of them, that’s not something you want! In fact, claims from the late 19th century state that if horse or cattle were subject to an infestation of several Amazon giant leeches, it could be fatal! Fortunately, those accounts are likely to be more fiction than fact. In truth, it’s believed these guys consume around 0.5 fluid ounces per sitting, which, if you’re wondering, certainly isn’t enough to take down any decently-sized animals.
So amazon giant leeches aren’t killers! Still, their size, slime, and the thought of them stabbing a 6 inch-long proboscis into my flesh means they’ve got to go down as one of the Amazon’s most sinister species!
Sheepshead Fish
As we’ve already learned, the Amazon river is chock full of nightmarish wildlife. However, we’re not done yet with the crazed critters that call this river home. The sheepshead fish habituates the western Atlantic, though it can occasionally enter the Amazon’s tributaries that merge into the ocean. At first, these fish look fairly ordinary. That is, until you catch a glimpse inside the menacing mouths of these swimmers. Inside their maws are lines of these creepy human-like molars!
These crushing chompers are used for cracking opens shells of crustaceans and mollusks! Thankfully, these fish haven’t developed a taste for humans. Saying that, if startled they won’t hesitate to clamp down on anybody that gets too close. Imagine how painful it’d be to have those massive molars sinking into your flesh!
Pacu Fish
On the topic of fearsomely fanged fish, that brings us to the pacu. This close relative of the piranha is less-known, but even more terrifying! Growing to 3 ½ feet and weighing in at a whopping 88 pounds, this fish’s most striking trait is its teeth. Like the sheepshead fish, pacu’s are fitted with equally creepy molar-like teeth.
These omnivorous fish, found throughout the Amazon, use their strong jaws and crushing teeth to feed on tree nuts that fall onto the river. Saying that, there’ve been reports over the years of these fish biting a very different kind of nut. However, you needn’t worry too much. These reports have never been validated, so chances are any guys that enter pacu-filled sections of the Amazon River won’t require any unwanted surgery afterwards. That’s not to say these fish are completely harmless, however. Back in 2004, a young Scottish girl dangled her hand into a Pacu-filled tank. Within seconds, one of the teethy tropical fish chomped down on one of her fingers, not letting go even as she pulled her hand out of the water. The brutal clamp down was so nasty, the girl needed plastic surgery to repair the wound.
Candiru
The Amazon River is also home to around 1,300 species of catfish, with some that look big enough to hunt down humans!
Yet, the most-feared catfish in these waters happens to also be the smallest. The
candiru, is a species of parasitic catfish, which usually won’t grow to more than an inch long.
So, what’s the big deal? Well, candiru love nothing more than feeding on blood. To do this they attach themselves to the gills of their fishy host, before inserting their needle-like teeth and slurping down all of that red stuff. A parasitic, blood-sucking fish sounds pretty gruesome, right? But did you know that the candiru is capable of far, far worse? Let’s just say any men taking a whizz in the Amazon river’s water may wanna keep a very close eye on their peeper! Supposedly, the smell of urine attracts the crazed candiru, so much so the fish would jump out of the water, before taking a trip upstream. Once inside the man’s urethra, the fish will then hook itself in place using the spines on its gills, unsurprisingly causing excruciating pain and requiring surgical removal.
© Be Amazed
Fortunately for all you guys watching, there’s a decent chance things may not be as bad as they first seem. Other than a few anecdotal tales, there’s little credible evidence that a candiru has ever invaded a human’s private parts.
The most recent reported case occurred in 1997, when a Brazilian doctor claimed to have removed a candiru from a man’s urethra. Yet, inconsistencies in the account, like the fish’s reported size, have left experts skeptical. What’s more, research conducted in 2001 revealed that
candiru hunt primarily by sight, not smell, which makes the idea of them being attracted to urine highly unlikely. Given all that, tales of these pesky parasitic fish heading straight for human pee-pees are likely the stuff of fiction. Even still, would you really want to tempt fate by taking a whizz in the Amazon River?
Great Potoo
Considering all the cursed creatures we’ve learned about so far, it may seem surprising that a small-statured bird that dines on nothing but insects is one of the scariest animals in the Amazon. But scary the potoo certainly is. In total, seven species of potoo haunt the Amazon rainforest, with most featuring unsettling yellow eyes that seem to burn straight through you.
However, there’s one particular species of potoo that turns up the creep-ometer even more! Say hello to the great potoo.
Look at those jet-black ping-poll ball-like eyes, and what about that hauntingly large mouth? That thing can see straight through our souls, can’t it? But, even when potoo birds have their eyes shut they can still be terribly terrifying. These freaky fowl have unusual slits in their eyelids. This allows them to sense movement around them, even when their eyes are closed!
Creepier still, despite its ability to watch your every move, you’d probably never notice it. During the day, they’ll spend most of their time perched upright on a tree stump, relying on their excellent camouflage to blend in with their surroundings. But as night falls, the potoo becomes active, opening its enormous, haunting mouth to snatch insects from the air, swallowing them whole in one terrifying gulp. However, what really cements this bird as a creature of nightmares is their cry. Take the low-pitched, wailing call of the great potoo, which eerily echoes through the pitch-black rainforest. Take a listen!
Great Potoo by alexanderlees Even small, insect-eating birds found in the Amazon are terrifying! This place is truly cursed! If you want to explore more about the Amazon, you might want to read about why the
Amazon River has no bridges. Thanks for reading!
