Armed Forces: Animals
(asked on 16th December 2015) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many official animal mascots there are in the armed forces; and what the (a) rank, (b) rations, (c) species and (d) regiment is of such mascots.
Official military animal mascots are a long-standing tradition in our Armed Forces and carry out ceremonial roles and duties. There are a total of nine publicly funded official mascots in the Armed Forces, all of which are attached to the Army. The details are provided below:
Name | Rank | Rations | Species | Regiment |
Talavera | None | Pasture forage and concentrate | Drum Horse | The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards |
Alamein (‘Charlie') | None | Pasture forage and concentrate | Drum Horse | The Queen's Royal Hussars |
Domhnall of Shantamon | None | Dog food | Wolfhound | Irish Guards |
None | None | Pasture forage and concentrate | Indian black buck | The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers |
Llwelyn | Fusilier | Pasture forage and concentrate | Kashmiri goat | 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh |
Shenkin III | Lance Corporal | Pasture forage and concentrate | Kashmiri goat | 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh |
Derby XXX | Lance Corporal | Pasture forage and concentrate | Swaledale ram | The Mercian Regiment |
Cruachan IV | Lance Corporal | Pasture forage and concentrate | Shetland pony | The Royal Regiment of Scotland |
Pegasus V | Lance Corporal | Pasture forage and concentrate | Shetland pony | The Parachute Regiment |
As their traditional Regimental Mascot, an Indian black buck, is now an endangered species, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers have adopted a British Otterhound as their stand-in Regimental Mascot; he holds the rank of Fusilier and is fed dog food.