The Most Unusual Animals Queen Elizabeth Has Received as Gifts

By mous456@hotmail.com Wednesday 9 May 2018

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The Most Unusual Animals Queen Elizabeth Has Received as Gifts

In case you're arranging a trek to London, make Buckingham Palace one of your stops because its putting on a presentation of the Queen's most unique gifts, which track her time as the reigning monarch.

Throughout her reigning years, the Queen has gotten much more bizarre gifts given by presidents, governments, royal families, and people.

It appears some people forget that the Royal Palace isn't the zoo. Queen Elizabeth has been the recipient of many animals, and we're not talking cute little lap dogs and snuggly kittens. We're talking the kind of animals you see on a wildlife safari.


From elephants to strange birds, see some of the most exotic animals every gifted to the queen, ahead.

Pygmy hippos

In 1961, the Queen got two pygmy hippopotami from President Tubman of Liberia. Basically, they're mini versions of their bigger relatives, the hippopotamus. And by mini, we mean they grow to be about six feet. Queen Elizabeth's pair was sent to the ZSL London Zoo.

An elephant

In 1972, an African forest elephant named "Jumbo" was gifted to Queen Elizabeth by President Ahidjo of Cameroon. What's a Queen to do with an elephant? send him to the London Zoo, surely. As indicated by the Royal Collection, "Jumbo" was flown to Britain and was fed an in-flight meal of bananas, avocados, and sugar. Upon arrival, he weighed about 1,300 lbs.

Two black jaguars

In addition to elephant, in 1968, the Queen has also received two black jaguars from the Prefect of Brasília, named Marques and Aizita. She sent them to the ZSL London Zoo, as well. In spite of the gifts she receives, however, Queen Elizabeth is actually entirely thrifty.

A crocodile

The Queen and her family members have been gifted crocodiles on several occasions. Including a Nile crocodile named "Mansa" from the People of Berending on the Zambia River in 1961. He was sent to live at the London Zoo.

Six red kangaroos

The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens in Australia sent the monarch six red kangaroos for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, two Brolga cranes, and one fat-tailed dunnart.

The Queen gave every one of the six kangaroos to the Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) London Zoo for perpetual keeping.

A pair of tortoises

While a portion of her royal pets have passed on, the Queen has a few of that will live a whole lifetime (if not, longer). Case in point: the Aldabra giant tortoises, did you know an Aldabra tortoise can live up to 250 years? the Queen has two, given to her by the government and people of the Seychelles in 1972.

They now live at the Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) London Zoo—and maybe will for a very long time.

Jersey cows

The Queen has been gifted a wide range of kinds of cows all through her reign, including several Jersey cows. The Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society of the Channel Islands has gifted the Queen two cows, one in 1957 and one in 1978.

Each cow was sent to live with the royal dairy herd at Windsor. The herd was originally organized in 1858 to provide the castle household with fresh dairy.