Animals

For mythical animals and cryptids, see: Paranormal and Cryptids

2011 Zanesville, Ohio animal escape	❗○ In 2011 a zoo owner released 50 exotic animals into the local area with disasterous effects
Andy (goose)	○ Sneaker-wearing goose
Animal-borne bomb attacks	❗Training pigeons to carry missiles was not advertised at the job fair
Apex predator	Predators considered to be at the top of the food chain
Beaver drop	Parachuting beavers is a cheaper form of relocation
Benson (Fish)	○ Popular carp caught over 60 times and weighing almost 30 kgs
Blood sport	❗Fighting that involves bloodshed, often against or involving animals
Breed-specific legislation	🐇 Laws regarding dog breeds in different countries
Bullfighting	❗A controversial, cultural sport
Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office	The official title of No 10’s resident cat
Christian the lion	From a time when you could buy a lion from Harrods department store
Clever Hans	This horse is better at maths than me
Cow tipping	An urban legend about scaring sleeping cows
Creme Puff (cat)	○ World’s longest recorded living cat
Cultural depictions of dinosaurs	🐇 Dinosaurs: so culturally important we gave them an emoji 🦖
Dolly	The first cloned sheep and mammal
Domino sparrow	❗ Flew into a Dutch Expo centre and toppled part of a domino display
Elephant cognition	One of a few species known to perform rituals for death
Endangered species	🐇 Species likely to become extinct
F. D. C. Willard	○ A cat who solved a man’s problem by co-authoring his physics papers
Grape-kun	○ Penguin known for its fondness of a cardboard cutout anime character
Harambe	Gorilla and internet meme
Hippopotamuses in Colombia	Thanks to Pablo Escobar hippos are now a species of Colombia
Judy (dog)	Survived multiple ship sinkings, a gunshot wound, saved a stranded crew, and at one point was a prisoner of war in Japan
Ken Allen	○ Orangutan who preferred to be outside his enclosure
Laika	First animal in space; sadly the technology to bring her back to earth had not yet been developed
Lion of Gripsholm Castle	○ A hilariously bad taxidermied lion
List of animals deadliest to humans	○ Despite popular myths, sharks aren’t nearly as deadly as we think
List of animals in political office	○ 🐇 Imagine running for Mayor and your competition is a dog
List of animals awarded human credentials	The allies didn’t win WWII because they had a chicken as a registered paratrooper… but hey who knows, it might have helped
List of dog crossbreeds	🐇 Try and say these words while you’re angry
List of heaviest land mammals, and Megafauna	🐇 Surprisingly, doesn’t include your mother
List of individual dogs	🐇 These dogs have achieved more in their lives than you ever will; some happy stories, some sad
Meatball (black bear)	○ A Californian bear known for its frequent visits to neighbourhoods
Megalodon	● Extinct shark, yes, it is extinct
Military animal, and Military marine mammal	❗ Did Iran really capture 14 spy squirrels?
Nigel (gannet)	○ Known as the ‘world’s loneliest seabird’
Nils Olav	○ Baron of the Bouvet Islands, Major General and… a penguin?
Panda diplomacy	China’s use of pandas as a diplomatic tool
Pig intelligence	○ Pigs remember which humans they like 🥹
Polydactyl cat	Cats with extra toes on their paws
Popular cat names	No studies after 2010 but still interesting
Potoooooooo	○ A spelling mistake gave this racehorse it’s comical name
Punxsutawney Phil	There is only one Phil. All other groundhogs are impostors!!
Purr	○ Big cat purrs are called ‘whirrs’
Rat king	❗ A phenomenon where rats get their tails entangled
Sergeant Reckless	Horse that served in the Korean War; known to eat eggs, beer and Cola
Shark Attack	Sharks don’t have hands okay, how else will they work out what you are?
Ship’s cat	❗ Mostly happy stories of cats travelling by sea
Telling the bees	The practice of telling bees about important events
Tilikum, and Blackfish (documentary)	❗ Controversial male orca who lived in SeaWorld Orlando; involved in three fatalities
Tsavo Man-Eaters	❗ Kenyan lions who liked a little munch on Ugandan railway workers
Unsinkable Sam	Survived multiple ship sinkings during WWII
Wojtek (bear)	Brown bear and member of the Polish army during WWII