Where Am I From? Trivia Quiz

Answer: USA

In the days before humans arrived in North America, coyotes lived in an area stretching from the plains of Canada, down the west coast and into central Mexico. As humans slowly developed land and wiped out the indigenous wolf population in many areas, so the coyote's range has expanded. They can now be found living wild from northern Alaska to as far south as Panama in central America.

This particular coyote was photographed walking along the banks of the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park.

Answer: Indonesia

There are some 20 species of gibbon divided into four genera, but all are native to the tropical and subtropical rainforests of southern Asia. Their range stretches from as far west as eastern Bangladesh, through northeastern India and southern China into Indonesia.

They can be seen swinging through the trees at speeds in excess of 30 mph, often leaping up to 50 feet between branches. On the ground, they walk upright, usually with their arms raised above their heads for balance.

Answer: Tanzania

The hippopotamus is often billed as 'the most dangerous animal in Africa' and although that particular tag probably belongs to the mosquito, the hippo is responsible for more human deaths than any other mammal including lions and various other carnivorous species. The most important thing to remember when viewing hippos in the wild is "do not get between them and the water". Hippos do not kill by biting or eating you, but by trampling you underfoot as they charge almost-blindly but at amazing fast speeds back to the safety of the water.

If you were to jump into your time machine and travel back, say, 100,000 years or more, you would discover hippos living throughout North Africa, the Middle East and well into Europe. As recently as 2,000 years ago, at the height of the Roman Empire, you could have found large herds basking on the banks of the River Nile in Egypt. Today, their range extends from Ethiopia in the northeast, across to The Gambia in the west, with the majority found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda.

Answer: Indonesia

The natural habitat of the Komodo dragon is extremely small, limited to just a handful of small islands amongst the 17,500 islands and islets that make up Indonesia. Those islands are Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, Padar and the one from which this monitor takes its name, Komodo.

Komodo island itself has an area of just 150 square miles, which is the same size as the Isle of Wight. The dragons share the island with a population of around 2,000 humans, descendants of former convicts who were exiled here. The Komodo dragon's largest natural habitat is Flores, which is about 20% larger than Jamaica. Flores is also home to around 1.8 million brave people, since the Komodo dragon's menu of choice includes large deer and other mammals, and they have certainly been known to attack humans.

Both of these islands are part of Komodo National Park, set up to protect the indigenous wildlife and designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. There must be something in the water here, as Flores is also home to another outsized creature, the Flores giant rat which grows to a length of 16-17 inches with another 20+ inches of tail.

Answer: Australia

The lyrebird is one of the national symbols of Australia, where it has appeared on coins, banknotes and postage stamps and, particularly, in the eastern states.

There are only two surviving species in the family, the superb lyrebird which is native to the sub-tropical forests of Victoria and in New South Wales south of Sydney and along the east coast, and Albert's lyrebird which can be found only in the rainforests of southern Queensland. The superb lyrebird was also introduced into Tasmania in the 19th century and continues to flourish there too.

Answer: Gabon

Mandrills live in groups called hordes in a small area along the west coast of central Africa comprising the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and southern Cameroon.

Although it feeds mostly on a diet of fruits and other plant material, mandrills are technically omnivores as they will also consume insects, eggs and small birds and reptiles. They live most of their lives at ground level, where they walk on the knuckles of all four limbs. They sleep in the canopy and also flee into the trees in the face of their chief predator, leopards.

Answer: Greenland

Despite the name, the closest relatives of the musk-ox are goats and sheep rather than oxen. Native to the Arctic regions of eastern Canada and northern Greenland, it has also been introduced in small numbers into northern Scandinavia, Alaska and Siberia.

As long ago as a million years, similar creatures once inhabited Europe as far south as Spain. The current incarnation probably crossed from Russia into Alaska via the ice bridge that existed some 100,000 years ago along with the bison and pronghorn antelope.

Answer: Chile

Herds containing a single dominant male along with numerous females and their young (called chulengos) inhabit the steep rocky terrain of the high Andes, particularly the Patagonian regions of Argentina and Chile. Small groups can also be found in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. Herds of bachelor males numbering as many as 50 roam separately from the females.

The largest wild mammals native to South America, these grazers are fleet of foot over the rough terrain (reaching speeds as fast as 35 mph). They are also excellent swimmers and spit when threatened, although that is little defense against their principal predators, jaguars and cougars.

Answer: India

Water buffalo have been domesticated in Asia for more than 4,000 years. They should not be confused with the members of the "Big Five" found in southern Africa, the Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) or with the American bison (Bison bison), which is often mistakenly referred to as a buffalo.

The natural habitat of the swamp buffalo ranges from Assam in the extreme northeast of India to the Yangtze valley in eastern China. River buffalo originated in India and have since spread westwards as far as Italy.

More humans depend on water buffalo than on any other domesticated animal. There were close to 100 million individuals in 2003, mostly river buffalo, and more than 20 million swamp buffalo in China. It is the primary dairy animal in Pakistan. In excess of 95% of the total world population were located in Asia.

Answer: Myanmar

The smallest of the big cats, you may be surprised to learn that it is not closely related to other leopard species: it is a member of the panther sub-family but from a separate genus.

Very rare and considered vulnerable, there are less than 10,000 adults left in the wild, spread over a huge geographical area. Native to the Himalayas, clouded leopards are found wild as far west as Nepal and northern India, south to Myanmar, Thailand and the Malay peninsula, and east to China south of the Yangtze River. No single population contains more than 1,000 adults.