Animals

Grown-ups

🏁 Who would win the race?

Pick two animals and race them to the tree. We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. The race is by top speed, over a short dash.

Getting the animals ready…

Famous races

The fastest on Peabody, by how they move

Running

🐆 Cheetah60 to 70 mph96 to 112 km/h1running
🦌 Pronghorn55 mph89 km/h2running
🐦 Ostrich43 mph69 km/h3running
🐺 Gray wolf35 mph56 km/h4top speed on land, running
🐻 Grizzly bear35 mph56 km/h5running
🦌 Moose35 mph56 km/h6running
🦬 American bison35 mph56 km/h7running
🦌 White-tailed deer30 mph48 km/h8running
🐴 Horse20 to 30 mph32 to 48 km/h9a full gallop: about 20 to 30 miles per hour
🐦 Greater roadrunner20 mph32 km/h27running
🦎 Komodo dragon9.9 to 12 mph16 to 20 km/h28running, brief bursts

Swimming

🐟 Sailfish68 mph109 km/h10swimming; more than, in short bursts
🦈 Great white shark35 mph56 km/h11
🐳 Orca35 mph56 km/h12
🦭 Walrus22 mph35 km/h13swimming
🐋 Blue whale20 mph32 km/h14
🐋 Humpback whale16 mph26 km/h15swimming
🐋 West Indian manatee15 mph24 km/h16swimming, very short periods
🐡 Ocean sunfish14 mph22 km/h17the article is about molas (ocean sunfish)
🦌 Reindeer (caribou)6 mph9.7 km/h18swimming
🦫 North American beaver5 mph8.1 km/h29swimming

Flying

🦃 Wild turkey54 mph87 km/h19flying
🦆 Mallard51 mph83 km/h20flying; this is the MEDIAN speed of GPS-tracked mallards in migratory flight, not a top speed
🦅 Bald eagle35 to 40 mph56 to 64 km/h21level flight
🦋 Common green darner37 mph60 km/h22flying; dragonflies in general
🦋 Monarch butterfly9.9 to 30 mph16 to 48 km/h23flying, riding cold fronts

Diving

🦅 Peregrine falcon200 mph322 km/h24diving
🐦 Ruby-throated hummingbird60 mph97 km/h25diving

Hopping

🦦 North American river otter15 mph24 km/h26hopping and sliding on snow or ice

Only animals with a checked top speed can race. Diving is helped by falling, and swimming is harder than running, so a race between them is fun but not fair; the result card says so.

  1. Smithsonian's National Zoo, Cheetah, checked 30 October 2026.
  2. National Park Service, Badlands, checked 30 October 2026.
  3. Smithsonian's National Zoo, Ostrich, checked 30 October 2026.
  4. National Park Service, Yellowstone (wolf facts), checked 30 October 2026.
  5. National Park Service, Glacier, checked 30 October 2026.
  6. National Park Service, Grand Portage, checked 30 October 2026.
  7. National Park Service, Wind Cave, checked 30 October 2026.
  8. National Park Service, Prince William Forest Park, checked 30 October 2026.
  9. USDA Forest Service, a trail guide for horses (full gallop), checked 31 October 2026.
  10. NOAA National Ocean Service, Ocean Facts feed ('What is the fastest fish in the ocean?'), checked 30 October 2026.
  11. NOAA Science On a Sphere, checked 30 October 2026.
  12. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.
  13. National Park Service, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, checked 30 October 2026.
  14. NOAA Fisheries, checked 30 October 2026.
  15. National Park Service, checked 30 October 2026.
  16. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.
  17. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.
  18. National Park Service, Caribou: Did You Know?, checked 30 October 2026.
  19. Smithsonian's National Zoo, checked 30 October 2026.
  20. USGS, checked 30 October 2026.
  21. National Park Service, Upper Delaware, checked 30 October 2026.
  22. National Park Service, Species Spotlight: Dragonflies, checked 30 October 2026.
  23. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Monarch Butterfly Festival page, checked 30 October 2026.
  24. National Park Service, Denali and Yukon-Charley Rivers, checked 30 October 2026.
  25. National Park Service, Northeast Temperate Network, checked 30 October 2026.
  26. National Park Service, Yellowstone, checked 30 October 2026.

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