Name the Country From Its Critters Quiz

Answer: Indonesia

Indonesia straddles the Wallace Line, a division marked by a broad sea channel which separates the fauna of Asia from the fauna of Australia and New Guinea. Hence, the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua on the island of New Guinea host marsupials which are more commonly associated with Australia, such as agile wallabies, tree kangaroos, echidnas, possums and quolls. On the opposing side of the Wallace Line, tigers, elephants, leopards, rhinoceros, sun bears, water buffalo, gibbons, and other typically Asian wildlife, are also found in Indonesia. Elephants live on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, as do orangutans, and the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, while the island of Java is home to the rare Javan rhinoceros.

The jungles of Indonesia also boast tigers and leopards, and numerous primates, including gibbons, macaques, lorises and tarsiers.

Answer: Mexico

Beavers, bears and elephant seals may make you think of Canada; rattlesnakes and opossums may bring the USA to mind; while jaguars, monkeys and armadillos could lead one to think of South America; but only Mexico has the entire combination. With habitats ranging from tropical jungles to hot deserts and mountain ranges, Mexico is home to a vast and varied array of creatures. Elephant seals are frequent visitors to the peninsula of Baja California. Jaguars and a number of species of New World monkeys occupy Mexico's jungles. Black bears, though rare, still roam the central and northern regions.

Other typically North American creatures such as rattlesnakes and opossums are common throughout their range of distribution, while beavers have been recorded in the San Bernardino, Bavispe, and Colorado rivers in Mexico's north.

Answer: India

The yak and peacock (male peafowl) are indigenous to Asia only, so that rules out Egypt and Kenya; and no lions live in the wild beyond India, so Vietnam is scratched. Yaks are found in the Ladakh region of northern India; the last Asiatic lions in the world are found in the Gir Forest of Gujarat; the Indian rhinoceros is distributed across northern India; and whilst the Indian elephant is more numerous as a domesticated animal, isolated wild populations can still be found in several regions of the country.

India has a number of crocodilian species, including mugger crocodiles, saltwater crocs, and gharials. Cobras are of course historically associated with religion and snake charmers in India. The distribution of the striped hyena of North Africa and western Asia terminates in India; while the bizarre pangolin, or scaly anteater, which is found in both Africa and Southeast Asia, also has a distinct Indian species.

In 1963, the peacock was proclaimed the national bird of India.

Answer: Australia

Camels and water buffalo are not indigenous to Australia, but they certainly roam free in the wild there in vast numbers. Some 150,000 water buffalo now romp in the wetlands of the Northern Territory, after a mere 80 were introduced from Asia in the nineteenth century to supply meat for remote settlements. Australia is also the only place on Earth where you will find large populations of wild dromedary camels - some 300,000 of them now live in the Outback after a handful had been brought in by pioneers to aid desert transport.

The Top End of Australia also hosts the world's largest concentration of saltwater crocodiles, as well as the rarely seen cassowary (the second-heaviest bird in the world, after the ostrich), and Australia's largest snake, the scrub python, which can reach seven metres (23 feet) in length.

The little or fairy penguin, along with ten species of seal, can be found along Australia's southern coastline, and the quokka is a small hopping marsupial that is popular with tourists who visit Rottnest Island in Australia's southwest.

Answer: Ecuador

Ecuador's fauna differs from that of most other South American nations because it owns the Galapagos Islands, which host giant tortoises, marine iguanas, and other unique species, including the Galapagos penguin, the only penguin species that can be found in the Northern Hemisphere (albeit, barely above the Equator). River systems along Ecuador's coast are home to the semi-aquatic capybara, the world's largest rodent, while Ecuador's jungles host numerous types of monkey, as well as the spectacled bear, ocelot, jaguar, and many other creatures commonly found in other South American countries.

Despite its small size, Ecuador has been listed as one of the world's seventeen 'megadiverse' nations - countries which together provide the bulk of the world's animal and plant species.

Answer: China

China's vast size, range of habitats, and geographical location mean that it contains a rich diversity of creatures, many of which are shared in common with Africa, Europe, the Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and North America. Asian elephants, which were once common in China, are now restricted to the southern tip of Yunnan Province, bordering Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. Tropical China is also home to tigers, sun bears and gibbons.

The temperate northeast of China boasts moose and the Siberian tiger, along with many animals common to Russia and North America.

The northwestern province of Xinjiang hosts a sustainable beaver population near the source of the Irtysh River, along with the critically endangered wild bactrian camel near the Gobi Desert region.

The Chinese alligator, though threatened with extinction, still survives in eastern China.

Answer: Iran

There are no bears native to Africa, so that rules out Ethiopia. Thailand does not have brown bears, cheetahs or gazelles. There are brown bears, badgers, onagers and seals in Russia, but no cobras, cheetahs, gazelles or hyenas. Of the available options, only Iran hosts this peculiar mix of native fauna.

The goitered gazelle and the chinkara, or Indian gazelle, are native to Iran, as are the Syrian brown bear and the Asiatic black bear. Iran is also home to the Eurasian badger and the Eurasian otter, and has its own species of fallow deer. Large carnivores such as the Asiatic cheetah, the rare Persian leopard, and the striped hyena can also be found in the wilds of Iran.

Other notable indigenous creatures include the Caspian Sea wolf, the Caspian seal, the Caspian cobra, and the Persian onager, or wild ass.

Answer: Canada

Listing bears, moose, and Canada's national animal, the beaver, would have made this one a little obvious. Rattlesnakes and opossums should point one to the Americas, but the muskox, being an Arctic creature, makes Canada the only correct option here.

The kangaroo rat lives in Canada's more arid prairie regions, while at least two species of rattlesnake live in southwestern Canada. The common snapping turtle is the largest and most widely distributed of Canada's turtles, restricted though it is to the warmer southern margins of the country.

The northern limits of the Virginia opossum's distribution lie in southern Ontario and Quebec, although it has also appeared in British Columbia as an introduced species. The lynx is found in many of the forested areas of Canada, as is the North American porcupine. Measuring only 7-10 cm in length, the calliope hummingbird of Alberta and British Columbia is the smallest breeding bird in Canada.

Answer: Argentina

Most of these creatures can also be found in Colombia, the important exceptions being the ostrich-like rhea, an inhabitant of the grasslands of southern South America, and the vicuna, a small camelid related to the llama, which lives in the high Andes and produces a fine wool.

Whilst the puma is the large cat more commonly associated with Argentina, the jaguar can also be found in the north of the country, with one population residing near Iguazu Falls, and another in the Ibera Wetlands. Argentina's reptiles include the yellow anaconda, which lives in the northeast of the country, and the yacare caiman, a small crocodilian which is found in huge numbers in the warmer rivers and wetlands.

The forests of northern Argentina are also home to the pig-like South American tapir, with its prehensile proboscis, and the giant anteater, which can reach lengths of two metres, along with at least two species of howler monkey.

Other interesting Argentinian fauna include the pudu, the world's smallest deer; the Patagonian mara, a large rabbit-like rodent; and several types of penguin, which live around the chilly southern tip of the country.

Answer: Nigeria

A tricky question, unless one is aware that the rare pygmy hippopotamus is only found in a few West African nations. Or that the drill, a primate related to the baboon and mandrill, is only found in Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Gorillas are not native to South Africa, Madagascar or Egypt, but the Cross River gorilla, a subspecies of western gorilla, can be found in the mountains which form the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. Isolated populations of African elephant live in Nigeria, close to the northern limit of their range, while the northernmost subspecies of giraffe, the endangered Nigerian, or West African giraffe, can be found in the north of Nigeria.