(Wild) Life in Canada Trivia Quiz

Answer: Common loon

The common loon first appeared on the Canadian one-dollar coin in 1987 and has since become a ubiquitous part of Canadian life, while the coin itself has become known as a "loonie". (The two-dollar coin was introduced in 1996 with a picture of a polar bear on it but still ended up being called a "toonie".)

Common loons have distinctive black and white plumage, with black heads and chequered black-and-white feathers on their upper backs. However, they have an even more distinctive range of vocal calls, ranging from the tremolo or 'laughing' call that they use to indicate alarm or distress to the long yodelling calls made by the male birds for use when patrolling territory. Male loons make up a unique yodel for each new territory they are called on to defend. Loons can also be heard wailing and hooting.

Loons are one of three families of birds that are classed as "foot-propelled divers" - the others being the grebes and the cormorants (the razorbill is also a member of the cormorant family).

Answer: Newfoundland

Newfoundland is Canada's fourth largest island by area and makes up a large part of the eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is home to the Newfoundland pine marten, a subspecies of the American marten, which can be differentiated from its more widespread cousin by its larger size. Both species have predominantly dark brown fur with a paler creamy-yellow patch under their chins.

It is mainly restricted to mature forests in the western portion of Newfoundland, so, given its limited range, it should probably be no surprise that there have been concerns about the viability of the Newfoundland pine marten's numbers for many years. Various studies from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s have estimated a population size of less than 1,000 individual animals living in the wild and have led to the species being given legal protection under Canada's 'Species at Risk Act'.

Baffin Island, Victoria Island and Ellesmere Island are the three largest islands of Canada (in that order).

Answer: Canada lynx

The Canada lynx (or Canadian lynx) is well suited to living in a cold environment thanks to its long thick fur that becomes greyer in the winter to better camouflage against a snowy backdrop. Although predominantly found in Canada and Alaska, the species also lives in limited areas of the Rocky Mountains region of the western United States. It tends to be a nocturnal hunter because its main prey, the snowshoe hare, is also mainly active at night. Its range is largely limited to the forested areas where the hares can be found in abundance. It would be very unusual to spot a Canada lynx in the treeless areas of the far north.

Over the centuries the Canada lynx has been hunted by humans for its fur. The Hudson Bay Company's trading records for Canada lynx fur date back to the 1730s.

The bobcat is similar in size to the Canada lynx but tends to be found in more southerly areas - Mexico, the contiguous United States and southern Canada - and its ears have less pronounced tufts. The ocelot is found in the south-western United States and the mountain lion (aka puma or cougar) is also more commonly found in the United States than in Canada.

Answer: Caribou

Reindeer are also known as caribou in North America. They are a large species belonging to the Capreolinae or New World sub-family of deer. (Which, despite the name, has many members (including the reindeer) that are also native to the 'Old World' of Europe and Asia. Reindeer are notable for being the only species of deer in which the females, as well as the males, grow antlers. This fact has made it difficult to determine whether Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donner, Prancer, Vixen and Rudolph are male or female. Although adult male reindeer usually lose their antlers before Christmas, younger males and the females retain them into the spring and early summer.

In North America, reindeer can be found across almost all of the northern part of the continent from Alaska in the west to Newfoundland in the east. They are social creatures that tend to live in large herds - the largest of which have occasionally been estimated to contain several hundred thousand animals - although during the breeding season and over the winter months these herds usually split down into smaller groupings before merging together again for spring migrations. In Europe and Asia, reindeer have also been heavily domesticated for use as both food and transportation - which is presumably where the legend of Santa owning a herd of reindeer developed from.

The incorrect options are all other species included in the Capreolinae sub-family of deer. While moose and mule deer can be found in Canada, the northern pudu is a South American deer (albeit the northern part of South America).

Answer: American Civil War

Canadian horses (or French Canadian horses) generally have a dark coat - black, brown, bay or (occasionally) chestnut - and average around 14 to 16 hands in height. They tend to have a somewhat stocky build but are noted for having a graceful way of carrying their head and neck.

Prior to the 1860s, the descendants of the 40 or so horses sent to Canada by King Louis XIV numbered over 150,000 and they were in widespread use across Canada, the United States and in further afield places such as Jamaica. They were particularly popular for their versatility and ability to cope with racing, carriage-pulling, agricultural work and - sadly for the horses involved - army cavalry duties. A large number of the animals also escaped from their human masters and formed feral herds in the northern United States.

After their population numbers were decimated by their use in the cavalry and artillery units of the Union forces in the American Civil War, an official pedigree studbook for the Canadian horse was set up in Quebec in 1885 to monitor the recovery of the breed and control its bloodlines. The Canadian horse became an official symbol of Canada in 2002.

Answer: Diefenbaker Canada goose

Although the migration patterns of the Canada goose can bring it across the Atlantic to Europe of its own accord, the large Eurasian population in the 21st century has occurred due to the introduction of the species from the 17th century onwards. However, they were relatively uncommon until the mid-20th century when population numbers began to grow exponentially thanks to the birds' ability to adapt to living closely with humans. In New Zealand, the Canada goose has historically been subject to culling programmes to keep its numbers in check.

The various subspecies of the Canada goose (Branta canadensis) can be differentiated by both size, location and the colouration of their plumage - although some are particularly difficult to tell apart at first glance. Fairly obviously, the giant Canada goose (B. c. maxima) tends to be bigger than its cousins, while the less common dusky Canada goose (B. c. occidentalis) lacks the large white patch of breast feathers seen on the Atlantic Canada goose (B. c. canadensis). Other subspecies include the interior Canada goose, lesser Canada goose, Vancouver Canada goose and Moffitt's Canada goose.

You might have spotted that this list does not include the Diefenbaker Canada goose, possibly proving that most politicians wouldn't thank you for putting the word "goose" (also an informal term for a silly person) after their name. The former Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker did have an animal named after him though - the 1990s TV series 'Due South' gave it to Constable Fraser's part-wolf who had a liking for junk food.

Answer: A burrowing member of the squirrel family

The Vancouver Island marmot has chocolatey-brown fur (unlike most other marmots, which are a less interesting shade of brown) with white patches on its head and chest. It is a relatively large rodent, the biggest of the Sciuridae (or squirrel) family, and tends to spend quite a lot of time in its underground burrows, both during the breeding season and while hibernating.

Sadly for tourists to Vancouver, a quick casual glance at their surroundings is extremely unlikely to yield a sighting of the Vancouver Island marmot. This is due to two key facts: firstly that it is endemic to the mountains of Vancouver Island (the city of Vancouver is not located on Vancouver Island) and secondly that it is highly endangered, having faced near-extinction in the wild in the early 2000s.

Any tourists visiting Canada with the express wish of seeing a Vancouver Island marmot would be better off scheduling time for a trip to one of the zoos involved in the conservation of the species through targeted breeding programmes - Calgary Zoo or Toronto Zoo would both be good options.

Answer: Kermode bear

Ursus americanus kermodei, otherwise known as the Kermode bear, is only found in some specific coastal areas of central and northern British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada. The species is notable for around 10% of its population having creamy white fur thanks to some quirky recessive genes, rather than the black fur you would expect of a bear belonging to the wider American black bear species. It is these white bears that are usually referred to as 'spirit bears' and play an important role in the myths and traditions of the indigenous people of the Pacific coast of Canada.

The species is officially called the 'Kermode bear' in honour of Frank Kermode, a museum director who conducted key research into these spectacular animals. In 2006, the Kermode bear was designated the official mammal of British Columbia.

The incorrect options are all other subspecies of the American black bear - but none are generally found in British Columbia.

Answer: Athabasca rainbow trout

The Athabasca river is the 14th longest river of Canada and the 7th longest to flow wholly or partly within the province of Alberta. It rises in the Columbia icefield of Jasper National Park and flows north-east to its mouth near Lake Athabasca. It is part of the wider Mackenzie River system - the largest in Canada.

The Athabasca rainbow trout is found specifically in the upper reaches of the river and is a subspecies of the more widely distributed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Like other rainbow trout, the Athabasca variety is at home in the cold waters of a river system that ultimately flows out into the Arctic Ocean.

The incorrect options all include the names of other major Canadian rivers - but none of those rivers can be found in Alberta.

Answer: North American beaver

The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) was the subject of the National Symbol of Canada Act, 1975 - a law passed solely for the purpose of recognising the furry rodent as a "symbol of the sovereignty of Canada". Unfortunately for the beaver, its historical importance did not stem from an appreciation of its beauty, cuteness or dam-building skills, but the money that could be made by killing it for its pelt. The 17th and 18th century fashion in Europe for beaver fur hats fuelled a thriving trade and the importance of the beaver to the area's economy led many leading figures - and then eventually the nation - to include it on their coats of arms, crests or emblems.

The fur trade also pushed the North American beaver to the point of extinction by the mid-19th century despite the fact that tens of millions of the creatures had inhabited the area just two centuries earlier. It then gained protected status and population numbers have since rebounded, although there are still far fewer beavers in existence than before humans took a fancy to wearing them.