In Slovakia, Brown Bear is the king of the mountains. I was so far lucky not to meet one and take pictures. There are enough pictures of Brown Bears on the internet, but I’m sharing a picture of a bear den and signs on a tree when a bear marks his place :grinning_face:
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Just saw an elk story this week 
Russian model dies weeks after elk crashes through car windshield on highway | Fox News
Hello Guys
We have 2, the desert fennec (thats why the soccer team have this name by the way) and the Dorcas Gazelle but this one start to be chased.
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I’ve heard in the news that the chances of meeting a bear in person in Slovakia keep on rising, so wishing you to keep on walking different paths than them! :smiley:
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Originally from Ukraine, I’m going to share some “unofficial” symbols of my motherland:
- Nightingale, as our language is sometimes poetically referred to as the “nightingale’s language” or “Солов’їна мова” (Solov’yina mova), for its melodious and rich sound;
- ox, as it’s historically any Ukrainian farmer’s best friend, helping in plowing the land and pulling caravans;
- horse, faithful companions of the Cossack (an image of modern Ukrainian stunt performers).
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now living in Gdynia, Poland, and the unofficial symbol of Gdynia is the wild boar, that can be seen so politely crossing the street in the right place :rofl:
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Hi Folks,
We have a law from 2004. about the national treasures (animals). There are on the list: cattles, sheeps, dogs, horses, pigs, goats, fishes, pigeons, donkey, chikens, ducks, goose, turkey, rabbit.
In order to understand why these ones national treasures you should know that the Hungarians were a nomadic tribe until 895 AD.
This was our migration route from Asia to Europe from 2500 BC to 895 AD. So domestic animlas were very important for the tribe.
After the foundation of Hungarian Kingdom 1000 AD, the country became of Europe’s panrty (cattle, wine, wheat) in the XIII. - XV. centuries. It took until the Ottoman empire invasion and conquer of Hungary and this role moved to Poland and Ukraine.
So my favourit ones from the animal list:
Hungarian grey cattle:
Racka sheep:
Hungarian Pointer (Vizsla):
Hungarian Sheepdog (Komondor):
Puli:
Best regards,
János
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Hey, that’s really informative short history lesson, amazing, did not expect that!
Köszönöm, Mizső!
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Great info!!! Thanks @Mizső
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Great history lesson. Thx
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The lion is a national symbol of Bulgaria. It is depicted on our coat of arms. Our currency is called the lev, which is an old form of the word “lion.”
In Bulgaria, depictions of lions can be found on various historical monuments. The oldest ones are on slabs discovered in the city of Stara Zagora, dating back to the 9th–10th century. In the famous “Chatalar Inscription” of Khan Omurtag, also from the 9th century, it is written:
“Kanasubigi Omurtag… while residing in the capital Pliska, built an aul on the Tucha… and in this aul he placed four columns, and on top of the columns he placed two lions.” - and the original text in Bulgarian:
„Кан ювиги Омуртаг… обитавайки стана Плиска, направи аул на Туча… и постави в този аул четири колони, и върху колоните постави два лъва.”
A lion is also present in the unique rock relief of the Madara Rider. The lion appears in the symbolism of Bulgarian tsars as well — for example, under Ivan Shishman.
During the National Revival, the lion once again became the most widespread Bulgarian symbol. Paisii Hilendarski wrote in his Slavonic-Bulgarian History that the Bulgarians had a lion on the royal seal — a symbol of the courage and invincibility of the Bulgarian warriors, who fought “like lions.”
The depictions of the lion on almost all of the flags of the rebels from the 'April Uprising’ are proof that it was perceived as a national symbol. During the preparation for the uprising, flags bearing a fierce lion and the sacred words “Freedom or Death” were made in the four revolutionary districts.
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The Royal Bengal tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh. They play a vital role to the mangrove forest Sundarbans ecosystem. They are also located in India, southern Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan to Southwestern China.
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As @AntonioSousa previously stated, I can’t think of a Portuguese national animal…
But we do have some species which are native of Portugal, one of which is very distinctive: the “Puro Sangue Lusitano”, or “Pure Blood Lusitano”, which is a horse breed!
Very famous, and also very exclusive if it is really really really a pure breed, we even have an International Fair to celebrate it and its exquisite habilities:
https://www.cavalo-lusitano.com/pt/agenda/festival-internacional-do-cavalo-lusitano-2025
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I guess most Dutchies would say the lion, but let’s throw a different one in here.
I really like beavers, and apparently the Dutch national park Biesbosch has a lot of them. You can even book a beaver boat tour for around 20 euros, which is still on my bucket list.
I think they’re awesome, because they spend every day solving their own non-existing housing crisis and help us tackle flooding problems. I think if the Dutch were an animal, they would be beavers, as they love having control over the water. So much, that they even have separate elections for a water management council.
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Greece doesn’t have a designated national animal AFAIK, but 2 come in mind:
- Dolphin, very prevalent in Greek mythology and our seafaring life.
- The Cretan goat, a subspieces of wild goat that is found only in the island of Crete
George
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Love Dolphins. If you ever get a chance to swim with them, it is a great experience.
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