Animals Representing Nations Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fennec Fox

The national animal of Algeria is the fennec fox (Vulpes zerda). Its English name is another of those redundant ones such as Mount Fuji, since 'fennec' is the Arabic word for fox. In the Latin name, vulpes is the genus of true foxes and zerda comes the Greek word (xeros) meaning dry, reflecting its native habitat.

Highly social animals, the fennec fox digs large family dens (often exceeding 1,000 square feet) that provide shelter from both the heat of the day and from predators. Their main predators are various species of eagle owl. They are also hunted by human for both their fur and for the exotic pet trade.

The Algerian national soccer team are nicknamed "Les Fennecs".

Answer: Baird's Tapir

Baird's tapir aka the Central American tapir (Tapirus bairdii), is one of four tapir species native to Latin America. (The other three are the mountain tapir, the South American tapir and the little black tapir.) The largest land mammal in Central America, it was named for the American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-87). It is the national animal of Belize, where it is also known as the mountain cow.

Generally solitary animals, tapirs communicate through the forest with a series of whistles and shrieks. Officially classified as "Vulnerable", Baird's tapir is endangered by both hunting and loss of habitat (although hunting them in many American countries is illegal). Their slow reproduction rate is also a threat to their survival. They are faster than their cumbersome appearance would suggest, and they have been known to charge and gore humans who get too close.

Tapirs are protected partly by their size and surprising speed, as well as a thick hide and a protective ruff across the back of their neck. Only large American crocodiles and adult jaguars are capable of taking down an adult tapir, and even then the outcome is far from a foregone conclusion.

Tapirs are members of the 'Perissodactyla' order of odd-toed ungulates, so their closest cousins are the horse, donkey, zebra and rhinoceros.

Answer: Takin or Gnu Goat

Takins (Budorcas taxicolor), also known as the gnu goats or the chamois cows, are a genus of goat-antelope native to the eastern Himalayas. THe national symbol of Bhutan, the Bhutan takin (Budorcas taxicolor whitei) is one of four sub-species within the genus: the other three are the Mishmi takin, the Shaanxi takin (or golden takin) and the Tibetan takin (or Sichuan takin).

Herbivorous, they live on a diet of grass, buds and leaves in the bamboo forests between 3,300 and 15,000 feet above sea level. Salt is also an important part of their diet. Active primarily during the day, you will usually find solitary males or small family herds during winter months, but gatherings of up to 100 individuals can be found at higher elevations in the summer, during mating season.

A vulnerable subspecies, hunting and habitat loss are the main threats to the Bhutan takin.

Answer: Okapi

Although its marking are zebra-like and its general body form like some species of antelope, the okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is actually the only other surviving species in the giraffe family. Until as late as early in the 20th century, the okapi was thought to be taxonomically part of the horse family. Not until 1986 was it finally confirmed that okapis and giraffes were so closely related. Other species in the same order as the giraffe/okapi family include, perhaps surprisingly, whales and dolphins.

Herbivorous, okapi survive on a diet of leaves, buds, grasses, ferns, fruits and fungi. Logging, illegal mining, human encroachment on their natural habitat and hunting for bushmeat are all reasons for the decline of the okapi in its natural environment. Although hunting them is illegal in DRC, poachers have been known to attack captive herds, even killing armed guards in order to reach their prey.

Answer: European Pine Marten

The European pine marten (Martes martes) is found throughout northern Europe and, in the UK and Ireland, has been instrumental in arresting the spread of the invasive grey squirrel.

Although one of the least endangered species, the pine marten still suffers from contact with humans: they are often killed as part of eradication of other pests and can also come into conflict with gamekeepers protecting their stock of game birds. Although protected by law, they are also often also killed for their fur.

Answer: Lion

A wide embayment of the Mediterranean coastline in the south of France, Marseilles and Toulon are both major ports within the Gulf of Lion. The neighbourhood of Lion lies two miles southeast of downtown Belgrade, along the city's longest street, Bulevar kralja Aleksandra. The district was named after the French city of Lyon, though, rather than the animal.

Widely known as the "King of the Jungle", in a play on words "The Lion King" was a hit movie for Walt Disney Pictures in 1994. It is also something on a misnomer, since most lions do not actually live in the jungle at all but, rather, on the savannahs and grasslands of eastern and southern Africa.

That this iconic animal (with no serious predators) is now considered "Vulnerable" is a sad indictment on mankind. In 1950 it was estimated that there were around 400,000 lions living in the wilds of Africa. By 1990, the number was a quarter of that. Most recent estimates put the population at somewhere between 15,000 and 45,000 remaining in the wild. Habitat loss and human contact is the main threat, and with small groups often cut off from other lion groups, in-breeding is also becoming a serious problem for the species.

Although I took this photograph from less than six feet away, notice how effectively this great beast disappears into the long grass of the dry season.

Answer: Komodo Dragon

Still found on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Padar, The Komodo dragon or Komodo monitor (Varanus komodoensis) is the world's largest living species of lizard. One reason why they have grown so large (as long as 10 feet and weighing 150 pounds) is that they have no natural predators on the islands where they live. Alternatively, it may be that they were just one of many 'overgrown' species that once lived in this region and, for some reason, they did not die off when the dinosaur age came to an end.

Needless to say, Komodo dragons dominate their ecosystem. They live mainly on deer as well as invertebrates, birds and other mammals. They will also eat carrion and are cannibalistic, often eating young komodo dragons if they find them. They are also known to attack humans. Oh, and just in case being significantly larger than any other creature in their environment wasn't enough, they also come with a venomous bite.

Answer: White Oryx

The Arabian oryx or white oryx (Oryx leucoryx) is the smallest of the four extant species in the oryx genus (the others are the East African oryx, the Scimitar oryx and the Gemsbok). Since its reintroduction in the wild in the 1980s, it has been listed first as "Endangered" and now as "Vulnerable" -- the first species ever to be classed as such after previously being considered rated as extinct in the wild.

"Oryx" means simply antelope in Greek, whilst "leucoryx" means white. These creatures once roamed throughout the Middle East but, by the 1930s, their habitat was restricted to the a couple of small areas in Saudi Arabia, the Nafud desert in the north-west of the country and the Rub' al Khali in the south. Since their reintroduction, there are now wile populations to be found in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar.

Answer: Snow Leopard

The global wild population of snow leopard or ounce (Panthera uncia) was estimated in 2016 at between 4,000 and 8,700 individual animals, with only 2,500 of those being reproducing females. Stocky and short-legged, the snow leopard is smaller than the other so-called 'big cats'. They can measure from 40-100 inches from nose to the tip of their tail, with 30-40 inches of that being the tail -- only domestic and marbled cats have longer tails relative to their body length.

Each individual snow leopard lives in a well-defined home range: these territories may be as small as five square miles in regions with plenty of prey, or as large as 80 square miles. Adult make yaks are about the only creature in a snow leopard's range that is too large for him to kill: his choice of prey ranges from birds and hares to tahrs, markhors, goats, red panda, wild board and even horses and camels. Although snow leopards are regularly known to take domestic livestock they are the least aggressive of all big cats towards humans.

Answer: Carabao

The carabao (Bubalus bubalis) was probably introduced into the Philippines by Malay immigrants sometime between 300 and 200 BC. More than three million carabao are now widely distributed over the country's numerous islands, and they are a distinctly separate species from other breeds of water buffalo introduced more recently from China or India.

Carabao racing usually takes place over a straight dirt course of 500m in length. The animals are harnessed with carts and usually driven by the farmers who own them.