What do hyenas and kids have in common? They are always laughing! All jokes aside, many children love animals and enjoy learning about these intriguing creatures. Challenge your child with these entertaining animal trivia questions!
Below, you will find sections of trivia questions about animals, reptiles, sea creatures, and more. Each ten-question section features a specific subgroup of the animal kingdom. See if your child may be an animal trivia expert!
In the Jungle
Q: When do most lions hunt?
a. At dusk during clear weather
b. At night and during storms
c. In the early hours of the morning when it is foggy outside
d. Mid-day when the sun is the brightest
Answer
Q: Which country has the largest number of wild tigers in the world?
a. Pakistan
b. Australia
c. India
d. Nepal
Answer
Q: What species of monkey is the largest?
a. Mandrills
b. Pygmy Marmosets
c. Baboons
d. Spider Monkeys
Answer
Q: Which of these jungle creatures has no teeth?
a. Dhole
b. Anteater
c. Capybara
d. Leopard
Answer
Q: Why do spotted hyenas sleep in pools of water at night?
a. They can breathe underwater
b. They love swimming
c. To stay cool
d. To hide from predators
Answer
Q: Which fact is true of the sloth?
a. They can run up to 6 miles per hour
b. They digest food quickly
c. They are highly skilled swimmers
d. They avoid climbing trees
Answer
Q: Which animal is the largest land animal on Earth?
a. Hippopotamus
b. Elephant
c. Rhinoceros
d. Sun bear
Answer
Q: What purpose does a cheetah’s spots serve?
a. To help them camouflage in grass
b. To make them look fashionable
c. To make them look faster when they run
d. To distinguish them from leopards
Answer
Q: Gorillas live in family groups. What are these groups called?
a. Schools
b. Flocks
c. Clans
d. Troops
Answer
Q: Which big cat is known for its call that sounds like the sawing of wood?
a. Leopards
b. Cheetahs
c. Jaguars
d. Tigers
Answer
Under the Sea
Q: What does the skin of a shark feel like
a. Smooth and silky
b. Like sandpaper
c. Bumpy and lumpy
d. Slimy
Answer
Q: What species protect the eggs of clownfish and serve as caretakers for the newly hatched clownfish?
a. Male clownfish
b. Female clownfish
c. Sea anemone
d. Young clownfish guard one another
Answer
Q: How long do seahorses live in their natural habitat?
a. 14-28 days
b. 6-12 months
c. 1-5 years
d. 10-20 years
Answer
Q: What determines whether sea turtles are born male or female?
a. Nothing, it is random
b. Genetics
c. The depth at which their nest is buried
d. The sand temperature surrounding their nest
Answer
Q: Which oceans do jellyfish live in?
a. Arctic & Atlantic
b. Pacific & Indian
c. Southern & Indian
d. All of the oceans
Answer
Q: Which underwater creature sleeps with half of its brain awake and one eye open?
a. Hammerhead shark
b. Bottlenose dolphin
c. Penguin
d. Narwhal
Answer
Q: How do moray eels eat their prey?
a. Suction
b. They hinge their mouth open to allow fish to swim inside
c. They use a second set of teeth called pharyngeal jaws to pull in food
d. They capture prey with their tails and eat at leisure
Answer
Q: What is the most common type of fish in the ocean?
a. Bristle mouths
b. Codfish
c. Mahi-Mahi
d. Catfish
Answer
Q: What kind of diet does a shrimp have?
a. Herbivorous (plant-only)
b. Carnivorous (animal-only)
c. Omnivorous (plants and animals)
d. Shrimp do not eat
Answer
Q: What color is the blood of an octopus?
a. Red
b. Black
c. Orange
d. Blue
Answer
Above the Treetops
Q: How do toucans use their large beaks?
a. To reach fruit
b. To intimidate potential predators
c. To attract a mate
d. All of the above
Answer
Q: Which type of bird is famously known for its ability to produce words?
a. Chicken
b. Owl
c. Parrot
d. Songbird
Answer
Q: Which bird is the only type that can fly backward?
a. Parakeet
b. Hummingbird
c. Dove
d. Cardinal
Answer
Q: Which bird builds the largest nests in North America and is legally protected?
a. Bald Eagle
b. Albatross
c. California Condor
d. Pigeon
Answer
Q: How many degrees can an owl rotate its neck?
a. 90
b. 180
c. 270
d. 360
Answer
Q: How do woodpeckers find their prey?
a. They keep a watchful eye for insects
b. They lure insects to them with their pecking
c. They listen for crawling insects
d. They create traps for insects with the holes they peck in wood
Answer
Q: What is a group of crows called?
a. Flock
b. School
c. Troop
d. Murder
Answer
Q: Which species of bird lives on every continent in the world?
a. Seagull
b. Robin
c. Mockingbird
d. Macaw
Answer
Q: What unique skill have scientists determined that pigeons have?
a. They can mimic human language
b. They can recognize human faces
c. They can identify a human by scent
d. They can distinguish human voices
Answer
Q: What quality do birds have that no other species in the animal kingdom have?
a. They can fly
b. They can build nests
c. They have feathers
d. They mate for life
Answer
Crawling Critters
Q: How do centipedes find food?
a. Smell
b. Sight
c. Antennae
d. Spraying sticky substances to trap food
Answer
Q: Which type of ant has the most painful sting?
a. Red ant
b. Black ant
c. Fire ant
d. Bullet ant
Answer
Q: What distinct shape does a female Black Widow Spider have on her abdomen?
a. A blue triangle
b. A red hourglass
c. A yellow circle
d. An orange line
Answer
Q: How long can a cockroach live without its head?
a. Up to an hour
b. Up to a day
c. Up to a week
d. It dies instantly without its head
Answer
Q: What does a ladybug do when it feels threatened?
a. Secret a bad-tasting liquid or play dead
b. Flee
c. Pinch with hidden claws
d. Bite its predator
Answer
Q: On what body part are the ears of a grasshopper located?
a. It’s head
b. It’s abdomen
c. It’s legs
d. It’s wings
Answer
Q: What requirements do praying mantises have for their food?
a. That the food be live
b. That the food be dead
c. That the food be soft from decay
d. That the food be plant-based
Answer
Q: What insect comprises 1/4 of the world’s animal kingdom in population?
a. Ant
b. Waterbug
c. Ladybug
d. Beetle
Answer
Q: How much sleep does a termite need?
a. 30 minutes a day
b. 1 hour a day
c. 12 hours a day
d. Termites do not sleep
Answer
Q: How do crickets make their chirping sound?
a. Through their mouths
b. When their antennae touch the ground
c. By rubbing their wings together
d. By touching their feet together
Answer
Your Favorite Pets
Q: What animal did dogs evolve from thousands of years ago?
a. Giant hyenas
b. Wolves
c. Coyotes
d. Small bears
Answer
Q: What big cat do house cats share 96% of their DNA with?
a. Leopards
b. Cheetahs
c. Tigers
d. Lions
Answer
Q: What animal have humans used ferrets to hunt?
a. Rabbits
b. Squirrels
c. Snakes
d. Moles
Answer
Q: How can guinea pigs see above and behind them?
a. They can rotate their necks almost 360 degrees
b. Due to where their eyes are located and their head shape
c. They can roll their eyes farther than most animals
d. They can only see in front of them
Answer
Q: How many quills does a hedgehog have?
a. 100-200
b. 500-1000
c. 2000-3000
d. 5000-7000
Answer
Q: What is a baby rabbit called?
a. A cub
b. A farrow
c. A kit
d. A calf
Answer
Q: What desert does the Golden Hamster come from?
a. The Syrian Desert
b. The Saharan Desert
c. The Gobi Desert
d. The Mojave Desert
Answer
Q: What do Box Turtles do in winter?
a. Migrate South for warmth
b. Build nests and guard eggs
c. Hibernate in a burrow
d. Shed their shell to find a new one
Answer
Q: What type of foods does a horse prefer?
a. Sweet and salty
b. Sour and bitter
c. Spicy and hot
d. Flavorless food
Answer
Q: The word, ‘mice’ comes from a Sanskrit word that means what?
a. Critter
b. Small
c. Steal
d. Squeaky
Answer
Scary and Scaly
Q: Which continent is the only one where snakes do not live?
a. Australia
b. Antarctica
c. Asia
d. South America
Answer
Q: During what era did Saltwater Crocodiles first walk the earth?
a. Paleozoic (first reptiles)
b. Mesozoic (dinosaurs)
c. Cenozoic (humans)
d. 2000s to present
Answer
Q: What body part can a lizard detach and grow back?
a. Head
b. Tongue
c. Tail
d. Feet
Answer
Q: How do Komodo Dragons use their tails?
a. Balance
b. To catch prey
c. To scare potential predators
d. All of the above
Answer
Q: Which of the following is true about scorpions?
a. They hatch from eggs
b. They are non-venomous
c. They can go between two weeks to one year without food
d. They are a type of insect
Answer
Q: What is the most common type of pet snake?
a. Ball Python
b. Garter snake
c. Rattlesnake
d. Coral snake
Answer
Q: Why do alligators not swim in saltwater?
a. They are not able to push salt out of their bodies
b. They do not like the salty taste
c. They are allergic to salt
d. They don’t live near saltwater habitats
Answer
Q: What does the iguana’s parietal eye, or “third eye,” help detect?
a. Color & heat
b. Light & movement
c. Food & water
d. It is only for show
Answer
Q: What does a pangolin do when it feels threatened?
a. Submerges itself in water
b. Runs into its den
c. Rolls into a ball
d. Bears its teeth
Answer
Q: King Cobra snakes are the only snakes that do what?
a. Inject venom into their prey
b. Build nests for their eggs
c. Give live birth
d. Never bite
Answer
What Do You Know?
Does your child know all about animals? What surprised them the most about their favorite critters and creatures? Be sure to “wow” your friends with your newfound knowledge of all things animals!
