Which, If Any, Land Mammals Cannot Swim? | Notes And Queries

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Flip Woolf, Frankfurt, Germany

• They can all swim, even cats if pushed in. They all do a funny paddle and keep their heads above the surface.

  Jack Hill, St Albans

• Legend has it that camels are the only land animals that cannot swim. However, if you read the explanation at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcamelswim.html you'll find this story debunked and an alternative claim made that large apes such as gorillas cannot swim, and that nor can most armadillos. Funny ol' world isn't it.

  Leo Hickey, Birmingham Essex

• That bloke in the Olympics from Equatorial Guinea.

  Tim Campbell, Wigan

• My friend Dave.

  Tristan, Kingston upon Thames U.K.

• I believe that gorillas are unable to swim at all.

  Paul Wright, Basildon

• Wouldn't this be a most marvellous time to make the elephant...trunks joke?

  Helen, Christchurch, New Zealand

• I've heard a rumour (but nothing more mind! Don't quote me) that giraffes struggle with the backstroke. I imagine kangaroo's would struggle too, given their build, but some rather unexpected mammals swim well, like rhino's and elephants, so.... Armoured creatures like pangolins and armodillo's, plus anteaters and aardvarks, and what about bats? I expect a whole range of arboreal creatures have never been seen to swim, but, given that all/most others do, they probably can.

  Steve, Nantwich England

• According to a BBC wildlife programme that i saw the other day - hippos can't swim. If they go in to deep water above their heads they merely walk along the river bed. They can hold their breath for up to six minutes though.

  Graeme, Edinburgh Scotland

• I can't say which land-animals can't swim but kangaroos certainly can swim if they have to, using their bounding action whether in or out of their depth. I think this is a reaction to pursuit. At leisure they will move slowly through shallow water using their quadrupedal gait. Re hippos: at Melbourne Zoo some Pigmy Hippos are kept where they can be viewed through glass under water. They swim, with all their feet off the bottom. I have not timed how long they can keep their heads under but they seem not to have to breathe frequently.

  A.M.Fleming, Melbourne Australia

• I am very reliably informed that pigs cannot swim.

  Corrie Fearon, Warminster UK

• A kangeroo is not a mammal, it's a marsupial.

  Louise, Coventry UK

• Louise, Marsupials are a type of mammal, as are monotremes and placental mammals. They demonstarate an evolutionary grade (but one should not take modern day examples as representative of the ancestral form). Monotremes (meaning "one hole") lay eggs, while marsupials have no placenta and give birth to what may best be described as a foetus.

  (Dr) Robert Kidd, Sydney Australia

• A Bat is a mammal that cannot swim, but it is not helpless and will not drown if it lands in the water. Pigs swim quite well!

  Gary, USA