Country Animals Trivia Quiz

When one just says beaver, it is most commonly a reference to Canada's national animal, Castor canadiensis, the North American beaver. There is another species of beaver, Castor fiber, known as the Eurasian beaver, which was found across most of the northern parts of Asia and Europe before being hunted to the edge of extinction. Both species were prized for their fur, as well as being hunted for meat. They have glands near the anus which produce a compound called castoreum which was long used medicinally (apparently it had an effect similar to that of aspirin, possibly due to the beaver's eating of the bark and leaves of willow and aspen trees), and was also used in the manufacture of perfume and some artificial food flavouring agents. While this continues to some extent, alternative synthetic materials are more widely used in the 21st century.

Both species of beaver are large rodents (second in size only to the South American capybara) with webbed hind feet and a large flat tail which makes them easily identified. They are known for their felling of trees to build dams to block rivers and lodges in which to live. This means that they are what is called a keystone species - one whose impact on the local environment is disproportionately large.

Canada is one of the countries with multiple national animals. Their national horse is the Canadian horse, Equus ferus caballus, bred from a 17th century shipment of French horses that were a mixture of draft and riding horses.

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States, although its range extends from Alaska in the north to Mexico in the south, and extends across those latitudes between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Both its common name and its binomial name refer to the white feathers that cover its head: 'leucocephalus' literally means white head, and the word bald in English used to mean covered in white, rather than hairless.

As the only sea eagle endemic to North America, its preferred location is near water, either coastal or inland wetlands, preferably large bodies of water with a plentiful supply of fish surrounded by high trees for nesting. If the chosen body of water freezes in winter, they will migrate to find open water; if they have year-long access to the water they are non-migratory. And if there is a temporary paucity of fish, they can find alternative prey, especially waterfowl.

In the 20th century bald eagle numbers declined dramatically for a number of reasons, the most familiar of which was thinning of eggshells (making them unviable) due to the ingestion of DDT as it accumulated up the food chain. Hunting was also an issue, and in 1967 they were declared an endangered species. The banning of DDT helped lead to population recovery; in 1995 they were relisted as threatened, and in 2007 removed from the US list of Endangered and Threatened Species.

The United States's national animal is the American bison, 'Bison bison', another animal that was hunted virtually to extinction by the end of the 19th century. Conservation efforts in the 20th century have led to its status now being Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

The lovely Caribbean flamingo (whose pink colour is indicated by its name, which comes from 'flamengo', a Spanish/Portuguese word meaning flame coloured) is the national bird of the Bahamas, although it is found in several Caribbean nations, as well as the coastlines of South America and the Yucatan Peninsula (and somewhat surprisingly, the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific). It used to be common in Florida, but largely disappeared form that area by around 1900.

Like all flamingos, the pink colour of its plumage is dependent on its diet - if it does not obtain sufficient beta-carotene from its diet of crustaceans, molluscs and algae, its colour is pale, and can be nearly white. A well-fed Caribbean flamingo has a much stronger pink colour than the other extant species, which is why it was at one time called the rosy flamingo.

The Bahamas also have a national fish, the blue marlin, 'Makaira nigricans', but they are found all over the tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic Ocean - and some authorities consider the Indo-Pacific blue marlin to be the same species, making it a distinctly cosmopolitan specias.

Not only is the resplendent quetzal, a bird associated with the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl, the national bird of Guatemala, its name is also used for the nation's currency, and its image appears on the country's flag. The largest type of quetzal, they are truly resplendent, having a bright green plumage that includes a tail that can be longer than the rest of its body.

The resplendent quetzal prefers to live in lush green foliage (where its coloration provides excellent camouflage) and is found in the canopy layer of the rainforests of southern Mexico and Central America. They are omnivorous, eating mostly fruits, but including insects, small reptiles and amphibians and snails on an occasional basis. Their favourite fruits are from the laurel family, especially Symplococarpon purpusii (which grows widely in the region) and wild avocadoes. They provide a useful service to the latter by spitting out the seeds when they have finished eating the fruit, helping to propagate the trees more widely.

The Andean condor, the national bird of Colombia (along with neighbours Bolivia and Ecuador and more distant Chile), is generally considered the largest bird of prey in the world, and one of the largest flying birds. (Large is hard to pin down, but the condor has a wingspan up to 3.3 m (nearly 11 ft) and can weigh up to 15 kg (over 30 pounds.) It is majestic in flight, but not so attractive up close. Like many vultures, the head and neck are nearly featherless, giving it an ungainly appearance.

The condor's size and flight makes it relatively free of natural predators, but humans killing them because they are perceived as a threat to domesticated livestock (despite the fact that they prefer carrion rather than attacking live animals) and expanding settlements to destroy the condor's habitat have placed serious pressure on their survival in the wild.

South Africa really sets a high bar for national animals, with the blue crane as the national bird and the galjoen (black bream) as the national fish, but it is the springbok which is the national animal, appearing on the reverse face of the gold Krugerrand coin, and used as a symbol for several national sporting teams, especially the rugby team. (It is not clear to me why a graceful leaping antelope gets associated with rugby, but that's another matter.) Springboks are also found in Botswana and Namibia; they are abundant over their entire range despite being a favourite target for hunters, both for their fur and their meat.

The name springbok comes from Afrikaans words meaning jump (spring) and antelope (bok). The scientific name specifies that it is not a gazelle ('antidorcas') because of the pouchlike flap of skin ('marsupium' meaning pouch) running along the spine. They are known for 'pronking', leaping into the air with stiff legs, an arched back, and the flap on their back erect. This action is performed in a variety of circumstances, with apparently different purpose: it can be seen when a predator is near (which may act to deter the predator because it signals that the springbok is too swift a runner to make easy catching as well as alerting others of the approaching danger); it is sometimes used as a display of prowess.

While members of the Giraffa genus are found in a number of parts of Africa, it is Tanzania which has made them a national animal. Taxonomists are divided as to how many species of giraffe there are; some hold the traditional position and consider them all the same species with several subspecies, while some consider that there are four extant species and seven extinct species. The increasing use of chromosomal evidence in classification, rather than basing it on visible characteristics, is behind this shift.

If you spot a giraffe in Tanzania, it is likely to be a Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi), also known as the Kilimanjaro giraffe. The species name was assigned based on its appearance, which included aspects of a camel's shape and a leopard's spots. The subspecies name is from the German collector who first brought a sample of the skin back to Europe.

While giraffes are found in a range of countries, they are not continuously spread, and the individual pockets (which tend to be primarily if not exclusively a single subspecies) face a struggle to survive, mostly due to habitat loss. They have been eliminated from some areas where they were once common. Overall, they are classified as Vulnerable. The Masai giraffe is Endangered, and protected in Tanzania - unlawful killing of one can lead to imprisonment.

The dromedary, also called the Arabian or one-humped camel, is the official national animal of Saudi Arabia. It is found in desert areas across all of North Africa and east into Asia. Not to mention a significant feral population in Australia, where they were introduced in the 1840s and abandoned after roads and railways replaced overland camels as a way to convey supplies through that nation's interior. Camels were probably originally domesticated in the Arabian Peninsula or possibly the Horn of Africa. Aside from Australia, dromedaries are only found as domesticated animals, not in the wild. Its cousin the Bactrian camel is found both domesticated and in the wild in Mongolia and central China.

The name dromedary comes from a Greek word meaning running, because it is taller and lighter in frame than the Bactrian camel, hence moves more swiftly. Dromedaries feature a number of obvious adaptations for their desert life: the hump on their back stores fat, which can be used for energy when food is scarce, as well as dissipating heat; they have systemic adaptations to minimise water loss, and can go for up to two weeks without water, then rehydrate quickly when water is available; their thick eyelashes are a protection from sand in the air.

Finland is an over-achiever in the national symbol stakes, with seven official nature symbols: national animal (brown bear), national bird (whooper swan), national flower (lily-of-the-valley), national tree (silver birch), national fish (perch), national rock (granite) and national insect (seven-spot ladybird. The latter was chosen in 1996, and appears as a logo used to indicate Finnish organic produce. Its popularity is suggested to be based on a combination of its useful function in controlling aphids and its bright, appealing coloration. Then there is the Finnish version of a children's rhyme about flying away "Fly, fly, Ladybird, to the foot of the big stone, There your mummy and daddy are making porridge for you."

Known in North America as the seven-spotted ladybug, or just a ladybug, this particular species is the most common type of ladybird found in Europe. Both the common name and the scientific species name refer to the fact that this small beetle has bright red or orange forewings, each with three black spots, and a third spot near its head that is spread across both wings. The common name ladybird is of English origin, where the Virgin Mary was often depicted as wearing a red cloak, and the seven spots were associated with either of two devotions to her, the Seven Joys or the Seven Sorrows; hence they were described as Our Lady's birds. Entomologists prefer to call them ladybirds or lady beetles rather than ladybugs, because they are not, in fact, bugs.

Seven-spotted ladybirds are found all over the place, wherever there are aphids for them to eat, and are currently considered to be in absolutely no danger of extinction. In fact, they often outcompete other Coccinellids when introduced to their region.

China does not actually have any official national animal, but the giant panda, endemic to the southwestern part of that country, is so closely linked with its homeland that it might as well be. A panda was one of the five mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Chinese government uses them as a tool of international diplomacy, arranging to have them lent to foreign zoos both to strengthen political ties and as part of conservation efforts. The popularity of the female Chi Chi in the London Zoo was one of the primary reasons the World Wildlife Fund chose the panda as the symbol of its work.

The species part of the scientific name for the giant panda is obvious: 'melano-' means black, 'leuca' means white, and so they are. The genus name translates to 'cat foot', with the cat reference coming from the pupils of the panda's eyes being vertical slits like those of a cat. The foot is a reference to the modified wrist bone that acts as a thumb, allowing them to hold their bamboo as they eat. (And that's another oddity - they are classified as carnivores, and their digestive system is like that of many carnivores, but they eat almost exclusively bamboo!) The Chinese name for the panda translates into English as large bear cat.

Now, about the English name of panda - that's a bit more obscure, but seems to be derived from a Nepali word used to describe the not-that-closely-related red panda found in the Himalayas because it has a similar wrist adaptation. Since they were discovered first, the name panda meant them for half a century before the giant panda received its designation.

The panda is a Vulnerable species, a status to which its low birthrate is a significant contributing factor, along with the habitat loss that means pandas in the wild are now found only in a few separated areas in a small part of the zone they formerly occupied. They are so well known and loved that much effort has gone into their preservation. In 2006 the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries were added to the World Heritage List. Setting up multiple panda reserves has had the beneficial side effect of protecting other endemic species that live in the same areas. The panda was classified as Endangered before the success of these conservation efforts.

The Bengal tiger is the national animal of both India and Bangladesh, but I placed the number on India because there was more space for it, and that is where most of the current population can be found. The tiger's range originally was the entire Indus River valley, from (using contemporary country names for the regions) Pakistan across through Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, along with most of India. Poaching and habitat loss have greatly reduced the range, and now they are a few hundred in each of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and 3-4,000 in patches across India.

When you just say tiger, most people picture the Bengal tiger, with its vibrant gold coat with white areas, against which the black stripes stand out boldly. This beautiful fur is one of the reasons why they are hunted, but a greater pressure comes from the use of tiger body parts in traditional Chinese medicine. There are also issues with humans moving into their territories, and killing them to avoid being the subject of tiger attacks. These settlements, of course, further reduce the area available for the tigers, who need a fairly large range to find sufficient prey to sustain their population. Extensive work is being undertaken to establish suitable reserves to protect the remaining tigers, especially in India.

Thailand's association with the Asian elephant extends well back to the days of Alexander the Great, when the war elephant was a potent symbol of power. They have also been extensively used as beasts of labour (hauling logs, for example, when that was legal) and mounts for traveling and for hunting. As an important religious symbol in this Buddhist country, they have a special revered status. The Thai royal emblem was the white elephant, a rare genetic mutation giving them a skin that is pinkish-grey in colour. The expense of maintaining an elephant in captivity means that bestowing a white elephant on someone as a gesture of respect and friendship simultaneously places a burden on the recipient - hence the phrase white elephant to describe something that causes more trouble than it is worth.

The subspecies found there is the Indian elephant, E. m. indicus. Their natural habitat is tropical forests, so it is ironic that their labour was instrumental in clearing the forests. Banning logging to preserve the remaining habitat (in 1986) then made the domestic elephants previously engaged in logging redundant, and their handlers turned to other ways of using them as a source of income, such as entertaining in shows, or offering rides to tourists. Efforts have been made to ban these activities as exploitative, but they are domesticated animals, and money to feed them needs to be found somehow. A fully satisfactory solution remains to be found.

Thailand's national symbols also include the Siamese fighting fish, which is found in fresh water through most of Southeast Asia. while they are popular worldwide as pets, they originated in Thailand, and that country remains the largest producer and exporter for the world market.

The Indonesian island of Komodo is the main place where these reptiles are found in the wild, although a few are also found on nearby Indonesian islands. The largest extant species of lizard (up to 3m or 10 ft in length, half of which is its tail, and up to 150 kg or 330 lb in mass) is the national animal of Indonesia.

Both the common name and the systematic name reflect the fact that it was first found on Komodo, where most known specimens live. The locals call it a 'buaya darat' (land crocodile') or 'biawak raksasa' (giant monitor lizard).

The Komodo dragon is carnivorous; although it mostly prefers carrion to live prey, it is quite capable of killing. A typical meal will involve the lizard eating up to about 80% of its body weight, consumed in large chunks and digested slowly. Each meal can provide sufficient food for up to a moth. The heavy scales that act as a sort of armoured covering are more used as protection in fights with other members of the same species than anything else, as they are the apex predators of their region.

Australia has a wealth of unusual endemic animals, including the official one, the red kangaroo. A kangaroo and an emu (the national bird) have been part of the nation's coat of arms since federation. They are reputed to have been chosen because they cannot move backwards, and symbolised the new country's motto, 'Advance Australia'. This reputation is not quite accurate, but it makes a nice story.

The red kangaroo's species name describes its reddish-brown fur, which is distinct from the grey that is most common among other macropods (large-footed animals). A 2020 reorganisation of taxonomy classifications saw their genus changed from the previous Macropus to Osphranter, from a Greek word meaning to smell. this was apparently chosen because the members of this genus rely heavily on scent to detect predators, since their sight is weak. Their strong legs help them escape from danger, but if cornered by a predator they can fight back by kicking fiercely with their hind feet while supporting themselves on their strong tails. Despite common references to boxing kangaroos, an interaction which occurs mostly between young males, the joust involves more pushing than use of the front paws (which are relatively small and weak), and usually turns into a kicking contest fairly quickly.

The red kangaroo is found in most parts of western and central Australia, apart from the fertile areas near the coasts. They are found in scrubland (with low bushes covering the ground), grasslands and deserts, preferring open areas (making it harder for predators to approach) with some trees for shelter from the sun during the day. They eat green grass as much as possible, but can get by on other foliage or dried vegetative matter when needs must.

New Zealand's national bird is the kiwi, so strongly associated with the nation that citizens are commonly called Kiwis. The genus name reflects their lack of wings while the species designation used here reflects the fact that there are five (or six, depending on who you ask) different species. Found only in New Zealand, they are the smallest of the family of birds called ratites, meaning they have no keel on their breastbone, and cannot fly.

Kiwi (the usual plural form for the bird) have vestigial wings that are so small that they are almost invisible, and the birds' bodies appear almost round. Their long beak, with nostrils at the end, is one of their most prominent features. Their keen sense of smell allows them to locate insects and worms underground, and compensates for their weak vision. Kiwi are known for laying one of the world's largest eggs relative to its size. This allows for the chick to hatch relatively well developed, and was evolutionarily possible because the islands had no egg-eating mammals to eat them in their ground-sited nests.

All five species are either Vulnerable or Near threatened, historically pressured by deforestation. Currently, they are protected in viable populations, but are still endangered by predation from non-native predators brought in by human settlers. Ferrets and stoats pose the greatest threat to chicks (with only about 10% of wild chicks surviving to adulthood), while dogs and cats are the biggest danger faced by adult birds.