World War One (animals)

Where can I find information about the animals used in World War One?

Senior Primary

(Years 5-8)

1918 black and white photo of "Nan", an Egyptian goat, a mascot of the New Zealand Engineers pictured standing on a hay bale with a soldier standing behind her.

Image: The goat mascot of the New Zealand Engineers, France by Henry Armytage Sanders. Collection: Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref: 1/2-013133-G. Image cropped.

Entry last updated: 11/07/25

Introduction

Millions of animals such as horses, dogs, donkeys, pigeons, cats, elephants, and even slugs served alongside soldiers during World War One. They were used to carry the wounded, as a means of transport, to act as guards or just as company for soldiers.

General websites

These websites are good places to begin your search for animals that helped soldiers at the battlefront during World War One.

NZ History

NZ History is a great website for information about Aotearoa New Zealand. If we go all the way down the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg animals world war 1. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

Anzac Portal

The Anzac Portal is from the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs.

  • Enter keywords 'animals world war 1' into the search box.

  • Select the article Animals in the military during World War I.

  • This article is about how animals were used during World War One by Australian and New Zealand soldiers.

Tips: A website’s address (URL) can give you a hint about how reliable it is. Look for addresses in the results that include .gov, govt. or .edu in the URL. These are quality sites from overseas government or educational organisations.

Animals in War Memorial Fund

This is the official website of the Animals In War Memorial in London, United Kingdom.

  • The History section is about why the memorial was created.

  • Go to The Monument section to see photos of the memorial.

  • Use the tab called Stories to read about animals that received the Dickin Medal, a medal for their work during the war.

Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are.

Imperial War Museums

The Imperial War Museums collects objects that tell the stories of people involved in war from World War One to the present day.

  • Use the drop-down menu under Objects and History to choose Stories and Videos.

  • Enter your keywords 'animals world war 1' into the search box.

  • Look through the results to find interesting articles, such as 15 animals that went to war. This brief article has some amazing photographs.

  • We recommend you explore the other articles to learn more about this topic.

Tips: You may see a message about cookies on this website. Cookies are a kind of data collector that is used by some websites to collect information about their users.

Smithsonian

The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and the national museum of the United States. Home to museums, galleries and the National Zoo, it has collections that help people to find information on the history of America.

Videos

These videos have some interesting information on the many roles of dogs, horses, donkeys, and more in World War One, including some that have received medals.

National Army Museum | Te Mata Toa

This museum showcases the military history of Aotearoa New Zealand. You can visit the museum and its exhibitions at Waiouru.

Britannica School Primary

Britannica School is one of the EPIC resources, which is a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. It’s put together especially for New Zealand school students and helps to answer questions like this.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6 pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

Books

Check with your school or public library for books about animals in World War One. Here are some titles to help you begin your search:

SCIS no: 1915713

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