General
Vikings used these intelligent black birds to help with navigation while sailing.
What are ravens?
This animal outnumbers the human population of Iceland.
What are sheep?
This small native mammal changes its diet with the seasons and often scavenges along Iceland’s beaches for seabirds, eggs, fish, and other food.
What is the arctic fox?
The arrival of this bird is often seen as a sign that spring has come to Iceland.
What is the golden plover?
This once-common North Atlantic bird was hunted to extinction in the 19th century.
What is the Great Auk?
This marine activity now brings in major tourism revenue, making some living whales more valuable to Iceland’s economy than hunted ones.
What is whale watching?
This farm animal produces milk used for dairy products like skyr, a major part of Icelandic food culture.
What are cows?
These mammals were introduced from Norway in the 1700s and now mostly live wild in East Iceland.
What are reindeer?
These birds create snug nests lined with down from their own bellies, which farmers later collect for quilts and pillows.
What are eider ducks?
This extinct Icelandic marine population was hunted partly because its tusks were valuable in trade.
What are Icelandic walruses?
These animals are the only native dog breed of Iceland.
What are Icelandic sheepdogs?
These animals are famous for having five gaits: walk, trot, canter, tölt, and flying pace.
What are Icelandic horses?
This invasive mammal has harmed bird populations in Iceland, especially ground-nesting birds.
What is the mink?
In the Westman Islands, local children help rescue these birds that mistake town lights for the ocean and release them back to sea.
What are puffins?
The Great Auk was especially vulnerable to humans because it could not do this.
What is fly?
Some whale-watching companies use these quieter boats to reduce disturbance to marine animals.
What are electric boats?
Tourism has made some farms shift toward keeping more of these animals for riding tours instead of focusing only on sheep.
What are Icelandic horses?
Farmers sometimes kill Arctic foxes to protect these birds, whose valuable down is collected and sold.
What are eider ducks?
These birds have the longest migration of any animal, traveling between the Arctic and Antarctic.
What are Arctic terns?
Great Auks were hunted not only for meat, but also for these soft body coverings used in pillows and clothing.
What are feathers/downs?
This fermented shark dish is one of Iceland’s most famous traditional foods, even though many tourists find it difficult to eat.
What is hákarl?
Once one of these animals leaves Iceland, it cannot return, helping protect the breed from outside diseases and preserve its bloodline.
What is an Icelandic horse?
Before humans settled on Iceland, this animal likely reached the island naturally by traveling over sea ice.
What is the Arctic fox?
These powerful falcons were once prized by European kings and nobles as hunting birds and status symbols.
What are gyrfalcons?
This marine mammal once had a genetically unique Icelandic population, but disappeared after a combination of human hunting, environmental changes, or volcanic activity.
What is the walrus?