Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

January 1, 2023 admin 2016, Andrew Gwynne, Parliamentary Question

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-12-16.

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.

Mark Lancaster

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.

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