Most Unique National Animals
Komodo dragon
Indonesia
The Komodo dragon (
Varanus komodoensis
) is the world’s largest living lizard.
Markhor
Pakistan
A member of the goat family, the markour (
Capra falconeri
) roams sparsely wooded regions in the Himalayas.
Xoloitzcuintli
Mexico
A national arthropod (grasshopper), a national marine mammal (vaquita) and a national dog, xoloitzcuintli.
Secretary bird
Sudan
The coat of arms of Sudan features the secretary bird (
Sagittarius serpentarius
), a distant cousin of the vulture.
Takin
Bhutan
So a local folk hero took a heap of cow and goat bones and crafted the first takin.
Gyrfalcon
Iceland
As many as one-third of Europe’s population of gyrfalcons (
Falco rusticolus
) come to Iceland to breed.
Cypriot mouflon
Cyprus
The Cypriot subspecies (
Ovis gmelini ophion
) is found only on Cyprus, an island republic south of Turkey.
Vicuña
Peru
Peru selected a relative of the llama, the vicuña (
Vicugna vicugna
), as its national animal
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