The Wonderful Wildlife of Wales Quiz

Answer: Red Dragon

The Red Dragon has been associated with Wales for longer than anyone can remember (obviously). It may be an adaptation of a Roman emblem or, according to some, of an ancient phallic symbol.

Either way, according to the Historia Britonum, the red dragon of Wales and the white dragon of England fought in a hidden pool at Dinas Emrys in Snowdonia and, though the white dragon seemed to be getting the upper hand for a while, it was prophesied that the red dragon of Wales would defeat the English usurper. You can read much more on the web, including in the ubiquitous Wikipedia.

The Green Dragon is an environmental standard - again, more on the web - and the Funky Dragon (y Ddraig Ffynci) is the Children and Young People's Assembly for Wales, set up in response to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Answer: Red kite

The last pairs of kites nested near to where I live. A committee was established to protect them and the army posted Gurkhas to mount an armed guard on the nest sites to keep egg thieves away. There's a happy ending to this story as the population recovered to a safe level. French and Spanish kites were brought in to diversify the bloodlines and kites have now been spread to all Welsh counties. Welsh kites have since been exported to England, Scotland and Ireland, and are now being used to shore up populations in France and Spain.

Ospreys have returned to Wales having been driven to extinction.

The (common/Eurasian) buzzard is probably the most numerous large raptor in Wales, and is often seen perching on telegraph poles along the roadside. Golden eagles do not (yet) nest in Wales, although they have in the past.

Answer: Badger

Meles meles, or Brock, is our old friend the badger. Wrongly (in my opinion) blamed for spreading bovine tuberculosis (there's a clue in the name, surely?), badgers were persecuted during the 20th century but are now protected under various legislation.

The hedgehog (draenog) is an occasional prey item for badgers, and is a good friend to gardeners as it enjoys nothing better than a meal of big, fat, juicy slugs.

The woodlouse (mochyn coed) is a smooth-on-the-inside-crunchy-on-the-oustide crustacean which needs no introduction. Despite the resemblance between the two, woodlice are not related to armadillos.

Answer: Merlin

Myrddin, also known as Merlin, was Arthur's chief adviser and merlin (Falco columbarius) is a small falcon.

A sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) is another small bird of prey, often seen around bird tables.

Excalibur was Arthur's sword in the later retellings of the legend, and the Camelot falcon is a figment of my fevered imagination.

Answer: Gwyniad

The gwyniad (Coregonus lavaeretus) is a unique freshwater herring found only in Llyn Tegid. It was isolated at the end of the last ice age and has developed in isolation.
A Gleisiad is the Welsh name for a smolt (as in a young salmon) or, in some areas, a sewin (sea trout.)

Whiting and grayling are also fish but not unique.

The lake's other two unique species are Teggie, whom some say is related to Scotland's Nessie, and the glutinous snail (Myxas Glutinosa), one of the rarest in Europe. According to Snowdonia National Park Authority's website, It was thought to have disappeared in the 1950's, but rediscovered in 1998. It eats algae which grow on the cobbles along the lake shore.

Answer: Subbuteo

Exactly. The common English name for Falco subbuteo - the Hawk which isn't quite a Buzzard - is Hobby. It seems that the inventor of the game wanted to call his baby 'hobby' but was told he couldn't get a patent on a common name. Being a keen ornithologist, he knew about F. subbuteo and used the Latin name instead.

The three-testicled buzzard refers to the belief, shared by such eminent figures as Pliny and Aristotle, that the male (presumably) was triorchid. This is a fallacy (no, not a phallusy, that's entirely different) reflected in one of the local names for the buzzard in Welsh, Boda Teircaill.

I invented F. zeugo. Thanks to Google for bringing up Zeugo as the name of a table football game.

Answer: Red squirrel

Our friend Squirrel Nutkin, also known as Sciurus vulgaris, is seriously threatened by the larger grey squirrel, (S. carolinensis or eastern grey squirrel) imported from America at the end of the 19th century. The greys carry the squirrelpox virus which is harmless to them but fatal to reds, and they outcompete the reds for food and territory.

The European mink does not live in Wales. Unfortunately, the American mink was released from fur farms in the late 20th century and played merry hell with ecosystems up and down the country. Thankfully, they are in retreat and the native otter is managing to return.

When did you last see a hare climb a tree?

Answer: Fox

I've never seen a red wolf and pumas and lynx are members of the cat family, not dogs.

Answer: Edible dormouse

Edible dormice, also known as fat dormice or Glis glis (so good they named them twice?), were kept in special jars by the Romans, to be fattened for the table.

The house mouse rejoices in the scientific name of Mus musculus, loosely translated as the 'come and have a go if you think you're hard enough mouse'. It originated in South-western Asia but spread throughout the world. It is considered a major pest as it damages stored food and carries all sorts of lovely diseases.

It is considered poor form to eat a churchmouse (Mus ecclesiasticus), and in some parts of the country it is said that to do so courts eternal damnation.

Rabbits are tasty but not quite as dainty as the dormouse.

Answer: Wild boar

Probably the most dangerous wild animal in Wales, a wild boar would have no trouble killing a person if it so chose. They have either survived or been released into the wild in the Forest of Dean on the border between Wales and England and small numbers are shot each year by hunters or hit by cars.

Although wild bulls no longer survive in Wales, the white cattle of Parc Dinefwr in Carmarthenshire and the White Park cattle and the Chillingham Wild Cattle of Norhumberland are thought to be very close descendents of the aurochsen (Bos primigenius) which once roamed throughout Europe.

Beavers are long extinct in Wales, though there are plans to reintroduce them. They were formerly hunted for their pelts, which were used to make hats; and their various glands, which were variously used to treat impotence and in perfumes.

Wolves have so far not been reintroduced to Wales, though there is talk of reintroducing them to Snowdonia.