Magnificent Mammals! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Deliberate hunting by humans

The Cascade Mountain wolf is also known as the brown wolf. It made its home in the Pacific northwest in the states of California, Oregon, Washington, and the province of British Columbia. A subspecies of the gray wolf, the brown wolf was deliberately hunted into extinction by 1940 or 1941.

The reason given for this deliberate attack was the danger this wild canine posed to settlers and their livestock. Once the American government announced bounties on these animals, it took only 25 years to hunt them into extinction.

Answer: For its blubber

The Caribbean monk seal was native to the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and western areas of the Atlantic Ocean. They grew up to eight feet long and were usually brown or gray in color. They were a herd animal that lived in groups that usually numbered around thirty animals.

Their natural docility made them an easy catch and the oil from their blubber was highly sought after. Industrialization required oil for the machines both in factories and on plantations. The oil from this gentle animal was also used by fisherman to light their lamps. Overfishing of both them and their prey caused the population of the Caribbean monk seals to plummet.

The lack of food kept them from reproducing and sometimes caused starvation. The last living specimen was spotted in 1952 off the coast of Jamaica.

Answer: The Atlas lion

Barbary lions were also known as Atlas lions because they were often seen near the Atlas mountains. One of the largest lion species, they were believed to have been used in the Roman Coliseum to battle gladiators. They were known to have survived in area of Algeria and Morocco into the 20th century.

The last confirmed sighting of a Barbary lion in the wild is thought to have occurred in 1922, which was killed by a hunter who probably thought that he had bagged a very large lion. It is possible that a few solitary animals survived for a few more decades in various zoos and circuses.

It is also possible that there are a few lions in the wild that are descendants of the African lion and the Barbary lion.

Answer: Scimitar-horned oryx

The scimitar-horned oryx were once plentiful in the deserts of the Arabian and Sinai peninsulas as well as most of northern Africa. By 1980 they had become virtually extinct in the wild. The last survivors were rounded up and sent to breeding facilities where they did well. Before the decade was out they were being reintroduced into the wild in the country of Oman, who was willing to enforce strict laws on hunting this animal.

They are adapted to the hot climates and get most of their water from the plant life they eat.

It is suggested that the idea of the unicorn may have come from a sighting of one of these animals which had lost one of its beautiful back-curving horns.

Answer: Indonesia

The anoa is the smallest member of the wild bovine family. Found on the islands of Sulawesi and Buton in Indonesia, these unusual animals are closely related to the water buffalo. Unlike most bovines, the anoa is not a herd animal and are usually seen in breeding pairs or nursing pairs. Less than five thousand of these animals still exist with habitat loss and poaching being the main causes of their population decline.

Answer: False

On islands, in which there is very little genetic diversity, island dwarfism and gigantism is fairly common. The pygmy hippo is not an example of this natural occurrence. The pygmy hippo is found in the rain forests of Liberia and the Ivory Coast. In many ways it looks like its larger cousin, just in a miniature size.

It has only one pair of tusks and its eyes are located on the sides of its head instead of one top. The pygmy hippo was not known to the outside world until the early 19th century. This animal is hard to study because it lives in a harsh terrain and is shy and nocturnal.

Answer: Vision

All river dolphins have very poor eyesight. They differ from other dolphins in that they have long snouts which are full of teeth which are easily visible even when the mouth is closed. They use these teeth to catch their favorite foods of catfish, prawns, and crustaceans.

Their use of echolocation helps them avoid most objects in their path. Sadly, fishing nets are not caught with echolocation and populations have plummeted as more and more of these animals are killed after they are caught in these nets.

Answer: Przewalski's horse

Przewalski's wild horse were first described by Russian explorer N.M. Przewalski, for whom they were named. For thousands of years they ran wild in large herds that could be seen all over the areas of southern Mongolia and northern China. At the turn of the 21st century they numbered approx. 2,500, with 2,000 of them confined to breeding facilities.

This wild horse has a reddish-beige coat with a pale belly. Small herds are slowly being reintroduced to their native areas and their populations are slowly climbing.

Answer: Sumatra

Orangutans are found in the wild on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. These are the only locations in which they live in the wild. The name 'orangutan' is from Malay and means 'man of the jungle'. Both male and female orangutans have long red hair, but males are much larger. Males also grow a beard as adults and have large cheek pads and throat pouches.

This primate loves fruit, honey, leaves, and insects. Unlike many other great apes, orangutans live alone and babies stay with their mother for 7-8 years, which is longer than any other animal on the planet except humans. Populations are declining quickly as the forest is eaten up for the wood, and as the babies are taken from the mothers to be made into pets.

Answer: Underground

All wombats live in underground burrows, that are often shared with other members of their social group. Most activities above ground are done at night and usually involve obtaining food. There are estimated to be less than 200 northern hairy-nosed wombats are found in the Epping Forest National Park in Queensland, Australia, where they are carefully protected. Wild dogs are the biggest threat to the survival of these unique animals and a two meter-high fence has been constructed around their living area to protect them.