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National Animals from Around the World
Six countries around the world have the eagle as their national animal: Albania, Germany, and Nigeria each share the regular, run-of-the-mill eagle, while Mexico, Poland, and the United States associate themselves with the Golden Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, and Bald Eagle (pictured), respectively.Five countries each honor the lion as a political symbol: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Singapore, and Sri Lanka, while three countries chose the tiger: Bangladesh (Royal Bangal), India (Bengal), and South Korea (Amur). Finland and Russia are bears. Oh my!
Aside from the aforementioned eagles, many nations elect birds to represent their political drive:
Estonia: Barn Swallow- France: Gallic Rooster
- Guyana: Canje Pheasant
- Iceland: Falcon
- Japan: Japanese Pheasant
- Venezuela: Turpial
- New Zealand: Kiwi (pictured)
- Chile: Condor
- Columbia: Condor
- Malta: Blue Rock Thrush
- Pakistan: Markhor
- Peru: Vicuña
Surprisingly, Spain's national animal is the bull. You'd think they would have picked an animal that isn't routinely killed for fun. It would be like the United States holding a week-long festival where revelers are encouraged to jump into a giant cage filled with rabid bald eagles. Spectators would then be urged to goad the eagles until they either lose interest and fly off, die, or forcibly insert their beaks into the eyes of their torturers. What fun!
The Chinese had a hard time deciding on which animal to choose to represent their country, so they went with three: the Chinese Dragon, the Crane, and the Giant Panda. It's tough to call a the Chinese Dragon an animal, however, because it's mythical. The Giant Panda is very real, and very endangered, with an estimated 2,000 left in the entire world. They're also what's known as a living fossil, which is "an informal term for any living species (or clade) of organism which seems to be the same as a species otherwise only known from fossils and has no close living relatives," according to Wikipedia.And let's not forget these other countries and their national animals, many of which I had never heard of until now:
Belarus -- Wisent (bison)- Bhutan -- Takin (goat-antelope thing)
- Botswana -- Zebra
- Cambodia -- Kouprey (ox)
- Finland -- Brown Bear
- Vietnam -- Water Buffalo
- Nepal -- Cow
- South Africa -- Springbok (gazelle)
- Ireland -- Stag (deer)
- Canada -- Beaver
- Honduras -- White-tailed Deer
- Italy -- Italian Wolf
- Moldova -- Auroch (bovidae)
- Namibia -- Oryx (antelope)
- omania -- Lynx (cat, pictured)
- Philippines -- Carabao (water buffalo)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis -- Vervet Monkey
- Thailand -- Thai elephant
- Turkey -- Grey Wolf
- Peru: Vicuña
Filed under: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Charlie Oct 7th 2008 2:21PM
USA - Eagle
England - Lion
China - Dragin
Russia - Bear
Germany - Leopard
Now read the 'revelation' bits in the Bible and apply what it says to today's economic/global events! Freaky! lol
kate Oct 19th 2008 11:10AM
im from canada and i must say. our animal is pretty lame. why can't we have somthing cool like a platypus......right. we don't have any....but hey luxenburg got a lion didn't they? just because it starts with the same letter... who runs this planet anyways? things would go a lot better if it were run by 13 year old girls. maybe we could have a unicorn?(china has a dragon don't they?) i think we should have a martian. that would be cool. but speaking in reasonable terms im thinking orca whale. what do you think?
Jabrico Nov 13th 2008 10:15AM
I don't usually blog or whatever you call it when you post a message on the internet, but I thought it would strike interest in folks if I put out there that during my bible studies, I found reference of a dragon and a unicorn. If you check out godsview.com you can type in those words and should come up with some matches. I know I believe in the word of God, but I can't say for sure if the interpretation validates the animals as realistic or symbolic.
sas Dec 26th 2008 5:31AM
Which is the national animal of Saudi Arabia..?
rakesh Jan 7th 2009 11:25PM
What is the national animal of Lebanon ?
Amy Apr 19th 2009 11:35PM
The orca isn't a common animal for our country. The beaver has significance behind it. The fur trade was pretty much the financial building blocks for our country, because of all of the beaver pelts being traded around. So really, when you think about it, having a beaver as our national animal makes A LOT of sense
harvey Sep 20th 2009 1:55PM
Rome- Eagle
UK-lion
roma asuncion Oct 29th 2009 7:24AM
what is the national animal of Cameroon?
mveek Jul 16th 2007 7:02PM
I think you will find that the vicuna is a mammal, not a bird.
Justin Glow Jul 16th 2007 7:47PM
oops, thanks mveek. i put it under the wrong category!
jon Jul 17th 2007 9:20AM
England's is a lion too - there are three lions on a english football shirt.
Bit weird really, seeing as there are no lions in England.
Willy Volk Jul 17th 2007 9:22AM
Zambia's national animal is the fish eagle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Fish_Eagle
I think I saw one during the three years I was there.
Jamie Rhein Jul 17th 2007 11:06AM
It's interesting to see how some animals/birds are picked for the impression they give off (lion) while others are picked for the importance to the people such as the water buffalo in Vietnam and the elephant in Thailand.