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100 Very Best Animal Trivia Questions

100 Very Best Animal Trivia Questions

Animals – Some we love, some we are afraid of, and some we might not even know.

The animal kingdom is fascinating and full of mysteries, wonderment, and lessons. No matter whether you are just starting to be more curious about animals, or whether you consider yourself an animal expert, there is always more to discover.

Trivia questions are an exciting way to test your knowledge about the animal kingdom, and to discover new fun facts about animals. These questions will enrich any quiz night, family evening or attempts to gather more scientific facts.

You might find yourself surprised about some of the answers – which animal has fingerprints just like humans, and what animals lived before dinosaurs?

Enjoy these 110 animal trivia questions!

Animal Trivia Questions

Question: Which bird has the widest wingspan?

Answer: The wandering albatross is known to have the widest wingspan of any bird – nearly 12 feet/about 3.6 metres!

Question: True or false? Butterflies can’t fly when they are cold.

Answer: True – If it’s too cold, butterflies are getting immobile. Their ideal body temperature is around 30 degrees

Question: What meaning do the spots on a ladybug have?

Answer: They evolved as a defence mechanism. The spots and the bright colour of ladybugs are a warning for predators.

Question: How long are caterpillars in a cocoon before they become butterflies?

Answer: On average metamorphosis, the process of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, takes 18 days. Most butterflies stay inside their cocoon between 5 to 21 days. In harsh environmental conditions, such as deserts, the process can take years.

True or false? Only female mosquitos’ bite.
True. They need blood to produce eggs.

Question: How many species of penguins are there?

Answer: There are 18 species of penguins in the world. Important to know: 10 species are globally threatened

Question: True or false? Scientists consider pigs to be smarter than dogs.

Answer: True! In recent years, scientists concluded that pigs are more intelligent than dogs.

Question:  How fast can a hippo run?

Answer: Between 15 and 30 miles. Surprisingly fast, considering that hippos spend up to 16 hours a day in water!

Question: True or false? Scientists believe that birds evolved from dinosaurs.

Answer: True. Birds evolved from theropods, a group of meat-eating dinosaurs

How many ants are living in one colony?
An average colony contains between 20.000 and 100.000 ants, depending on the species.

Question: Why do we see birds flying in formations?

Answer: Birds conserve energy by flying in formations. Also, flying in groups protects birds from predators.

Question: True or false? Polar bears are touching noses to greet each other.

Answer: True. Polar bears are known to exhibit “nose to nose greetings”.  One bear approaches another bear, circles him, and slightly touches his nose. They also use this gesture to request food from each other.

Question: Why do camels have humps?

Answer: They allow camels to store up to 80 pounds of fat. Camels can live off them for weeks or months.

Question: What do butterflies eat?

Answer: They mostly consume sweet nectar from flowers.

Question: What’s the world’s fastest fish?

Answer: The Sailfish is the fastest fish in the ocean

Question: Which farm animal was the first one to be domesticated?

Answer: Goats, followed closely by sheep.

Which animal is most closely related to the T-Rex?
Chickens

Question: Which two animals are most closely related to humans?

Answer: Chimpanzee and bonobo.

Question: On what continent do most wild lions live?

Answer: Most wild lions live in Africa.

Question: Which is the largest living land animal?

Answer: The African bush elephant (Loxodonta Africana)

Question: Where were hamsters first discovered?

Answer: In the Syrian desert, less than 100 years ago.

Question: How long does it take bees to make one teaspoonful of honey?

Answer: It takes 12 bees their entire life to produce a single teaspoon of honey.

Question: Which is the slowest land animal?

Answer: Three-toed sloth is known as the slowest land animal, located in Central America.

Where was the largest great white shark found?
In Mexico

Question: Which bird can fly highest?

Answer: Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture is known as the highest-flying bird, reaching an altitude of about 37.000 feet.

Question: Which is the loudest land animal?

Answer: Howler Monkeys. Their howls can reach up to 128db and cover an area of about 3 miles.

Question: Why do fireflies’ glow?

Answer: Male fireflies are trying to get the attention of female fireflies. The glow itself is the result of a chemical reaction of bioluminescence.

Question: Which is the most owned pet in the world?

Answer: Dogs are the most popular owned pet in the world, followed by cats, fish and birds.

Question: How many species of sharks are there?

Answer: More than 500, with new species being discovered each year

Question: Which animal sleeps up to 22 hours a day?

Answer: Koala

Question: Which mammal is known to be the only one that can’t jump?

Answer: Elephant

Question: True or False? Octopuses can taste with their arms

Answer: True

Question: How many species of Scorpions are found in India?

Answer: 86, but only 2 of them are known to be harmful to people

What is the only poisonous snake in the United Kingdom?
Adder

Question: How many poisonous animal species are estimated to live in Australia?

Answer: About 66 poisonous species, ranking beneath Mexico (80 poisonous species) and Brazil (79 poisonous species)

Question: What species of bird can fly backward?

Answer: Hummingbird

Question: Which animal is the only mammal that can fly?

Answer: Bats.

Question: True or False? Snails can sleep for up to 3 years

Answer: True. Snails need moisture to function, and if the weather isn’t providing moisture, snails can sleep for up to 3 years.

Which mammal is known to have the longest life span
The bowhead whale can live for up to 200 years

Question: True or false? Penguins can fly.

Answer: False. Penguins cannot fly. They have wings, as they are birds, but they evolved to support swimming, not flying.

Question: Which is the fastest land animal?

Answer: Cheetah with 70 miles/ 120.7km per hour

Question: Which animal is known to have the shortest lifespan?

Answer: Mayfly with a lifespan of 24 hours

Question: What are male seals called?

Answer: Bulls.

Question: True or false? Female lions do most of the hunting.

Answer: True. The lioness hunts with other lionesses in a group. They are smaller and faster than male lions.

Through what body part do dogs and cats sweat?
Paws

Question: Which animal can breathe through its skin?

Answer: Frog

Question: How many flowers do bees visit during each trip?

Answer: 50 to 100 flowers, and bees take about 15 trips a day. So, a bee can cover up to 1500 flowers a day!

Question: Which is the only known male animal giving birth?

Answer: Seahorse

Question: What is the oldest reptile species still alive?

Answer: Turtles are one of the oldest reptile groups, with the earliest turtles in existence dating back 220 million years ago!

Question: In what country were dogs first domesticated?

Answer: Dogs were first domesticated in Siberia about 23.000 years ago.

Question: Which underwater animal is known for its deepest and longest dive?

Answer: Cuvier’s beaked whale. The longest known dive lasted 222 minutes!

Question: Which animal can twist its head 270 degrees?

Answer: Owls. These birds can turn their head almost in a full circle!

Animal Trivia : Part 2

Question: Which is the deadliest animal in the world?

Answer: Mosquitos are the deadliest animals when it comes to human deaths per year.

Question: How far can kangaroos jump in one bound?

Answer: Over 27 feet / 8 metres!

Which mammal has the longest pregnancy?
African elephants, their pregnancy can last for up to 2 years.

Question: Which animal is known to have human-like fingerprints?

Answer: Koalas. Scientists found that human and koala fingerprints can easily be mistaken.

Question: Which animal can change genders?

Answer: Clownfish. They are all born male, but during their lifetime some turn into females. What an experience, to be both male and female in one lifetime!

Question: Which animal species is known to practice a form of democracy?

Answer: African buffalo herds. Researchers observed that they vote about their travel preferences using physical cues.

Question: How high can eagles fly?

Answer: Eagles can reach heights of 10.000 feet.

Question: Why does a Zebra have stripes?

Answer: Scientists are considering three possible explanations: Protection from flies, regulating their body temperature and protection from predators.

Question: What’s the most poisonous spider in the world?

Answer: Sydney funnel-web spider, native to Australia.

Question: How many species of birds are there?

Answer: About 10.000 species of words are found worldwide

Question: What’s the only continent in the world where no butterflies are found?

Answer: Antarctica.

Question: Which animal is the tallest animal in the world?

Answer: Giraffe

Question: Which animal can regenerate body parts?

Answer: Axolotls can regenerate missing body parts and even missing parts of their organs! Researchers are yet to understand how!

How often does a snake shed its skin?
Between four and 12 times a year. The process is called “ecdysis”.

Question: True or false? Most reptiles are warm-blooded.

Answer: False. They are cold-blooded. This means these animals can’t regulate their own body temperature, and they have to adapt to the environment to regulate their body temperature.

Question: What’s the largest snake in the world?

Answer: Anaconda

Question: How far can frogs jump at once?

Answer: Over 20 times their own body length

Question: How long can seals live in the wild?

Answer: Up to 30 years. 

Question: How much weight can one ant lift?

Answer: Up to 50 times of its own body weight

Question: True or false? Octopuses have three hearts.

Answer: True. One heart supplies the body with blood, and the other two hearts supply blood to the gills. And some have blue blood!

Question: How many times per second can honeybees flap their wings?

Answer: About 200 times

Question: What species of fish is known to be the most poisonous?

Answer: Stonefish.

Question: What body part do butterflies use to taste?

Answer: Their feet. This helps them to identify plants, and to choose the right one to release eggs.

Question: How long does it take a spider to make a net?

Answer: 30 to 60 minutes

Question: True or false? Horses use facial expressions to communicate with each other.

Answer: True! Researchers have found 17 different facial movements in horses.

Question: How many animal species are estimated to live in the world?

Answer: Estimates range from 3 million to 100 million or even more. So far, scientists have named 1.7 million species.

Question: How many endangered species in the world are threatened with extinction?

Answer: Over 16.000! Let’s do our best to help animals survive on this planet.

Question: Which animal has the strongest bite force?

Answer: Saltwater crocodile

Question: Which water animal has the largest brain?

Answer: Sperm whale

Question: True or false? A dog’s sense of smell is about 100.000 times stronger than humans.

Answer: True

Question: What’s the scientific term for an intense fear of spiders?

Answer: Arachnophobia

Which animal doesn’t need to sleep?
Bullfrogs. Scientists found that even when they rest, their respiratory signals don’t change.

Question: Where is the heart of a shrimp located?

Answer: In its head!

Question: True or false? Cows sleep while standing up.

Answer: False! Cows can dowse lightly while standing, but to reach a deep sleep, they must lie down.

Question: How many species of sharks exist in the world?

Answer: About 440.

Question: True or false? Chickens can make over 200 distinct noises for communicating.

Answer: True. They even communicate feelings with each other!

Question: Why do pigs roll in mud?

Answer: To stay cool, as they don’t have sweat glands.

Question: Tue or false? Rabbits can sleep with their eyes open.

Answer: True.

Question: How are baby alpacas called?

Answer: “Cria”, and they can weigh up to 20 pounds/9kg at birth

Question: How many species of fish are there in the world?

Answer: It is estimated that there are over 20.000 species of fish!

Question: True or false? Cats spend approximately 30% of their waking hours grooming themselves.

Answer: True!

Question: What’s the colour of a polar bear’s skin?

Answer: Black, which helps them to absorb more UV light to keep themselves warm. Also, their fur isn’t white, but transparent.

Question: True or false? Seals can sleep underwater.

Answer: True. They usually only come on land when hiding from predators, for mating and giving birth.

Question: How deep can seals dive?

Answer: Up to 900 metres and some seals can hold their breath for up to 2 hours!

Question: How many eyes do caterpillars have?

Answer: 12!

Question: True or false? Grasshoppers existed before dinosaurs.

Answer: True. Scientists estimate that they appeared more than 300 million years ago.

Question: How long have insects been present on this planet?

Answer: Some have been around for about 350 million years, for example cockroaches and grasshoppers. In comparison, humans have been on the planet for abut 300.00 years.

Question: What’s the largest bird in the world?

Answer: The ostrich is the tallest and heaviest bird in the world.

Question: What are the only species of cats that live in groups?

Answer: Lions. Their groups or family units are called prides and can contain between 2 and 40 lions.

How do elephants communicate with each other?
By vibrations, also called seismic signals, that can travel more than a mile.

Question: What’s the scientific term used to describe the winter sleep of animals?

Answer: Hibernation.

Question: True or false? Dalmatians are born with spots.

Answer: False! They are born with white coats, and their first spots appear after about one week.

Question: What bird species is the most common in the world?

Answer: Domestic chickens. It is estimated that there are over 34.4 billion domestic chickens living in the world.

Question: Which bird has been used for thousands of years to carry messages?

Answer: Homing pigeons.

Question: What’s the smallest living bird in the world?

Answer: The bee hummingbird, with a length of just 5cm/2 inch.

Question: In what country do most sea otters live?

Answer: Alaska. Over 90 % of all sea otters in the world live in coastal areas in Alaska.

Question: True or false? Sea otters consume up to 25 percent of their bodyweight each day.

Answer: True! They must fuel their metabolism and maintain a good body temperature in cold waters.

Question: What’s the biggest species of squirrels in the world?

Answer: Indian giant squirrel. It can grow up to 1 metre/36 inches.

Question: How many species of rhinos are there in the world?

Answer: Five. Of those, three species of Rhinos (black, Javan and Sumatran) are critically endangered.

Which animal has the thickest fur?
Sea otter with 600.000 to 1.000.000 hair follicles per square inch of fur.

Question: True or false? Bats can live up to 15 years.

Answer: False – Bats can live even longer, up to 30 years!

Question: How many hours does a rabbit sleep per day?

Answer: 8 to 9 hours

Question: What’s the highest distance a squirrel can jump?

Answer: About four feet/one metre.

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