Videos: European predators caught in action

Thursday 11 July 2013 14:57 EDT

Eye contact: Predators in the Pyrenees? (EPA)

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Great white shark (Mediterranean)

There have been several confirmed sightings of this increasingly rare species off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, with a breeding population thought to exist in the Strait of Sicily. Don’t panic, though: the last human killed by a shark in European waters was in 1984.

Black rat (Europe-wide)

Rats carry many deadly diseases including rabies, typhus and bubonic plague, of which there are between 1,000 and 3,000 cases worldwide each year.

Asp viper (France/Italy)

One of Europe’s most venomous snakes, its bite can cause loss of vision, paralysis and kidney failure. About 4 per cent of bites prove to be fatal If left untreated.

Wild boar (Europe-wide)

Wild boar are naturally shy but with their razor-sharp tusks the animals – which can weigh up to 300lb – are aggressive when provoked. Last year, police shot dead a boar that had gone on the rampage in Berlin, injuring four people, including an officer.

Brown bear (Europe-wide)

Brown bears can be found from Sweden to Albania and Italy, and even in the Pyrenees and Spain, although these populations are on the verge of extinction. Three fatal bear attacks have been recorded in Sweden in the past century.

Wolf Meets Russian Bear