World National Animals Quiz: Hard
This hard quiz draws 10 questions from all 84 countries on this site. Most questions ask about IUCN threat status and whether a national animal is officially designated, with only one photo.
Peru
What is the national animal of Peru?
Answers and explanations
These are the 10 questions that open this page. After "Play again" the questions change, and every answer is explained as you go.
What is the national animal of Peru?
Answer: Vicuña
The national animal of Peru is the vicuña (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). The vicuña stands for the animal kingdom on Peru's coat of arms, set by a law of the Constituent Congress on 25 February 1825; the shield's three parts show the country's natural wealth, with a cinchona tree for plants and a horn spilling coins for minerals. It lives wild in Peru's high Andes, and its wool was so prized in the Inca Empire that only the emperor was allowed to wear it. More about Peru →
Asian elephant: is it a threatened species (Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered) on the IUCN Red List?
Answer: Yes, threatened
The 2020 IUCN assessment lists the Asian elephant as Endangered and infers a decline of at least 50 percent since 1945 over three generations. Its 2018 compilation gave a likely estimate of 500 to 600 wild elephants in Lao PDR and cautioned that range-country estimates are uncertain. More about Laos →
Dromedary camel, national animal of Saudi Arabia: officially designated, or a national symbol by tradition?
Answer: National symbol
The national animal of Saudi Arabia is the dromedary camel (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). The dromedary camel is seen as Saudi Arabia's national animal because camels carried people and goods across the Arabian deserts for thousands of years and remain central to Saudi heritage. No law naming it has been found, but the Council of Ministers declared 2024 the Year of the Camel to honor its place in the Kingdom's culture. More about Saudi Arabia →
What is the national animal of Ireland?
Answer: Irish hare
The national animal of Ireland is the Irish hare (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). Ireland has never officially chosen a national animal (its official emblem is the harp), but when people name one, the Irish hare is the most common choice. It lives nowhere else in the world, it is the only member of the hare and rabbit family native to Ireland, and it has been on the island for about 12,900 years. It also has a place in Irish culture: a committee led by W. B. Yeats chose native animals for the new state's first coins, and the threepence first issued in 1928 showed a hare. More about Ireland →
Himalayan monal: is it a threatened species (Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered) on the IUCN Red List?
Answer: No, not threatened
The Himalayan monal is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and is still fairly common in many places along the Himalaya. In parts of its range, though, males are poached for their shining crest feathers. More about Nepal →
Which country has this as its national animal? (Red kangaroo)
Answer: Australia
The national animal of Australia is the red kangaroo (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). Australia has no law naming a national animal, but a kangaroo and an emu hold up the shield on the Commonwealth coat of arms, chosen to symbolize a nation moving forward because neither can easily move backward. The coat of arms does not name a species, and the red kangaroo, the largest of them all, is a fitting representative of the whole group. More about Australia →
Italian wolf, national animal of Italy: officially designated, or a national symbol by tradition?
Answer: National symbol
The national animal of Italy is the Italian wolf (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). Italy has no law naming a national animal, but the wolf is the animal most linked with the country because of Rome's founding legend: a she-wolf saved and fed the abandoned twins Romulus and Remus, and Romulus later founded Rome, traditionally in 753 BC. The best-known image of the story is the Capitoline Wolf, a bronze she-wolf kept in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. More about Italy →
What is the national animal of Qatar?
Answer: Arabian oryx
The national animal of Qatar is the Arabian oryx (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). No law naming it has been found, but the Arabian oryx, known in Arabic as al-maha, is used throughout Qatar, from the Qatar Airways logo to Orry, the oryx mascot of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. It is admired because it survives in hot, dry desert where very few large animals can, and people of the Arabian Peninsula have long respected it as a symbol of endurance and grace. More about Qatar →
Baird's tapir: is it a threatened species (Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered) on the IUCN Red List?
Answer: Yes, threatened
Baird's tapir is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with fewer than 5,000 mature animals thought to remain in the wild. The main threats are the loss and splitting up of forests, hunting and diseases from livestock, and because tapirs breed very slowly, populations take a long time to recover from losses. More about Belize →
What is the national bird of Norway?
Answer: White-throated dipper
The national bird of Norway is the white-throated dipper (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). In 1963 listeners of the national broadcaster NRK voted for the white-throated dipper, which was seen as a bird that captured the character of Norway's varied nature. It lives right beside the country's rushing streams and waterfalls, breeds from the coast up into the mountains, and keeps going in icy water through the long winters. More about Norway →
How the questions are made
Every question is built from the national animal pages on this site: the country, the animal, whether it was officially designated or is a national symbol by tradition, and its IUCN Red List category. Each explanation repeats the short answer from that country's page, which lists its sources.
Threat questions skip domestic animals, animals extinct or possibly extinct in the wild, and subspecies such as the Italian wolf, because the IUCN category on those pages covers the whole species. Photo questions skip animals shared by several countries, such as the lion, so there is only ever one right answer.