45 questions with answers · tap one to see its answer
Animal Trivia Questions
These 45 animal trivia questions are about mammals, birds, fish, insects, reptiles and ocean life from every continent: how they live, what they eat, what their young and their groups are called and the odd things they can do. Kids and adults both enjoy them, and the notes under the answers are often better than the questions.
Every answer was checked against two independent sources on November 9, 2026.
What is a baby goat called?
Answer: A kid
Goats were among the first animals people tamed, about 10,000 years ago in western Asia.
Checked against Wikipedia, sciencenews.org and Dictionary.com
Which red-haired great ape lives in the wild only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra?
Answer: The orangutan
Its name comes from Malay words meaning person of the forest.
Checked against Wikipedia and National Geographic
Which primate from Madagascar has a long tail striped in black and white rings?
Answer: The ring-tailed lemur
It spends more time on the ground than any other lemur and often sunbathes sitting up with its arms spread wide.
Checked against Wikipedia, lemur.duke.edu and Smithsonian
Which whale is famous for the long, complex songs that its males sing?
Answer: The humpback whale
Its songs can carry for great distances underwater, and a singing session can go on for hours.
Checked against Wikipedia, National Geographic and BBC
Which big cat with thick, smoky-gray fur lives high in the mountains of Central Asia?
Answer: The snow leopard
It wraps its long, thick tail around its face like a scarf to keep warm.
Checked against Wikipedia and National Geographic
What tiny shrimp-like animals are the main food of blue whales?
Answer: Krill
A single adult blue whale can eat several tonnes of krill in one day.
Checked against National Geographic and NOAA
Which tropical American bird has a huge, brightly colored bill that helps it shed body heat?
Answer: The toucan
Its giant bill is surprisingly light: a keratin shell that is mostly hollow, braced inside by thin rods of bone.
Checked against National Geographic, animals.sandiegozoo.org and Wikipedia
Which bird of prey is the fastest animal on Earth when diving after prey?
Answer: The peregrine falcon
In a hunting dive, called a stoop, it can top 300 kilometers per hour.
Checked against National Geographic, peregrinefund.org and Wikipedia
What is a female fox called?
Answer: A vixen
Baby foxes are called kits, cubs or pups.
Checked against Wikipedia, National Geographic and Dictionary.com
Which Central American lizard can sprint across the surface of a pond on its back legs?
Answer: The basilisk
Its big hind feet slap the water so fast that it can dash several meters before it sinks.
Checked against Wikipedia, National Geographic and animaldiversity.org
What is the longest venomous snake in the world?
Answer: The king cobra
It mostly eats other snakes, as its scientific name Ophiophagus, meaning snake-eater, suggests.
Checked against Wikipedia and National Geographic
Which South American snake is the heaviest snake on Earth?
Answer: The green anaconda
Anacondas spend much of their time in water, where they move more easily than on land.
Checked against Wikipedia and National Geographic
Which Andean relative of the camel is raised mainly for its soft fleece?
Answer: The alpaca
Alpacas are smaller than llamas, which were bred mainly for carrying loads.
Checked against Wikipedia, National Geographic and animaldiversity.org
Which marine mammal floats on its back and uses stones to crack open shellfish?
Answer: The sea otter
It often keeps a stone tucked in a loose pouch of skin under its forearm, reusing it over many dives.
Checked against Wikipedia, animaldiversity.org and montereybayaquarium.org
What do marine biologists prefer to call starfish, since they are not fish at all?
Answer: Sea stars
Many sea stars can regrow a lost arm, and a few kinds can regrow a whole body from a single arm.
Checked against National Geographic, NOAA and Wikipedia
Which whale has the largest brain of any animal alive today?
Answer: The sperm whale
It is also the largest toothed predator, diving deep into the ocean to hunt squid.
Checked against Wikipedia, National Geographic and NOAA
Which plump mountain rodent of the Alps whistles loudly to warn its family of danger?
Answer: The Alpine marmot
Alpine marmots hibernate together in family groups through the long mountain winter.
Checked against Wikipedia and animaldiversity.org
Which is the only snake native to Britain whose venomous bite is medically serious?
Answer: The adder
Adders are easy to recognize by the dark zigzag stripe running down their backs.
Checked against arc-trust.org, woodlandtrust.org.uk and arc-trust.org
The world's largest deer is called an elk in Britain; what is it called in North America?
Answer: The moose
Moose are strong swimmers and can even dive underwater to feed on water plants.
Checked against Wikipedia, National Geographic and American Heritage Dictionary
Which giant vulture soars on mountain winds high above the Andes of South America?
Answer: The Andean condor
It is a national symbol of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador.
Checked against Wikipedia and animals.sandiegozoo.org
Which huge, flat, round-bodied ocean fish is also called the mola?
Answer: The ocean sunfish
A female can produce about 300 million eggs, more than any other known animal with a backbone.
Checked against Wikipedia, animaldiversity.org and montereybayaquarium.org
How many eyes do most spiders have?
Answer: Eight
Jumping spiders have very sharp vision, but many other spiders rely more on sensing vibrations.
Checked against National Geographic and Wikipedia
Which fish spends much of its time out of water, hopping across tropical mudflats on its fins?
Answer: The mudskipper
On land it breathes partly through its skin and the lining of its mouth and throat.
Checked against Wikipedia and aquariumofpacific.org
What is a group of kangaroos usually called?
Answer: A mob
Large male kangaroos are sometimes called boomers.
Checked against taronga.org.au, pbs.org and Wikipedia
Which bird was officially made the national bird of the United States in 2024?
Answer: The bald eagle
It has appeared on the Great Seal of the United States since 1782.
Checked against BBC, Wikipedia and National Geographic
Which tall black-and-white bird, linked in folklore with delivering babies, nests on rooftops across Europe?
Answer: The white stork
White storks spend the winter in Africa and often return to the same nest year after year.
Checked against Wikipedia, animaldiversity.org and animals.sandiegozoo.org
Which small apes of Southeast Asia swing through the treetops and sing loud duets with their mates?
Answer: Gibbons
Moving by swinging arm over arm from branch to branch is called brachiation.
Checked against Wikipedia and National Geographic
Which parrot, gray with a bright red tail, is famous for learning to copy human words?
Answer: The African grey parrot
An African grey named Alex, studied by scientist Irene Pepperberg, learned about 100 words.
Checked against National Geographic, Wikipedia and content.time.com
What is the smallest bird in the world, native only to Cuba?
Answer: The bee hummingbird
An adult weighs only about 2 grams.
Checked against Wikipedia and animaldiversity.org
Which Galápagos reptile is the only lizard that swims and feeds in the sea?
Answer: The marine iguana
It sneezes out extra salt from special glands near its nose.
Checked against Wikipedia, animaldiversity.org and National Geographic
Which beetle, famous for rolling balls of dung, was a sacred symbol in ancient Egypt?
Answer: The scarab beetle
Egyptians linked it to Khepri, a form of the sun god at dawn who was shown as a scarab.
Checked against Wikipedia and World History Encyclopedia
What is a group of geese on the ground called?
Answer: A gaggle
When geese fly together, the group can be called a skein.
Checked against Wikipedia, Dictionary.com and American Heritage Dictionary
What is a group of rhinoceroses called?
Answer: A crash
Despite their bulk, rhinos can charge at more than 50 kilometers per hour.
Checked against sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org and Wikipedia
What is a baby hedgehog usually called?
Answer: A hoglet
The name hedgehog comes from the Middle English words for 'hedge' and 'hog'.
Checked against Wikipedia, woodlandtrust.org.uk and Dictionary.com
What is a male duck called?
Answer: A drake
In many duck species the drake has bright feathers, while the female is mottled brown.
Checked against Wikipedia, Dictionary.com and animaldiversity.org
Which squid of the Southern Ocean has the largest eyes of any known animal?
Answer: The colossal squid
Each eye is about 27 centimeters across.
Checked against tepapa.govt.nz and Wikipedia
What is the largest living reptile?
Answer: The saltwater crocodile
It lives from India and Southeast Asia to northern Australia and can swim far out to sea.
Checked against australian.museum, National Geographic and Wikipedia
In which kind of deer do both the males and the females grow antlers?
Answer: Reindeer (caribou)
Reindeer hooves have sharp edges that grip ice and work like shovels for digging through snow to find food.
Checked against National Geographic, animaldiversity.org and Wikipedia
What is a young hare called?
Answer: A leveret
Unlike baby rabbits, which are born blind and hairless, baby hares are born furry with their eyes open.
Checked against Wikipedia, animaldiversity.org and animaldiversity.org
Which bird can stay in the air for about ten months straight without landing, migrating between Europe and Africa?
Answer: The common swift
A 2016 study using tiny data loggers found some swifts barely landed at all during their 10 months away from the nest.
Checked against Wikipedia and lunduniversity.lu.se
Which long-horned white antelope of the Arabian Peninsula was returned to the wild after vanishing there in the 1970s?
Answer: The Arabian oryx
Herds bred in captivity were released back into the wild, and as of 2026 the IUCN Red List rates it vulnerable.
Checked against Wikipedia, marwell.org.uk and iucnredlist.org
What is a baby echidna called?
Answer: A puggle
The mother lays a single leathery egg into her pouch, where the puggle hatches about 10 days later.
Checked against Wikipedia, australian.museum and American Heritage Dictionary
What is the heaviest wild land animal in Europe, saved from extinction by breeding animals kept in zoos?
Answer: The European bison (wisent)
Every European bison alive today descends from just 12 animals that survived in captivity.
Checked against Wikipedia and animaldiversity.org
Which lizard-like reptile of New Zealand is the last survivor of a group that lived alongside the dinosaurs?
Answer: The tuatara
Young tuatara have a third eye on top of the head, which gets covered by scales as they grow.
Checked against doc.govt.nz, animals.sandiegozoo.org and Wikipedia