In pictures: Animals at war

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By Zsuzsanna Blau
October 30, 2009

Inspired by our ‘It’s a dog’s life’ article on military dogs, we are presenting you with a wonderful gallery of photos collected by Telegraph about animals at war.

See dogs, elephants, camels, horses, birds, dolphins and other beautiful creatures of nature serving man in battle.

: Some animals attain celebrity as a result of their exploits in war. Voytek, a 250lb brown bear, was adopted by the Polish army stationed in Persia in 1942. Later, he served in battle in Italy, transporting ammunition to the front line. He was fed on fruit and honey, as well as his favourite drink – beer.

: Dolphins possess the most sophisticated sonar system known to man, and are used by the US Navy to locate mines in deep water. This bottlenose dolphin was clearing shipping lanes during the war in Iraq in 2003.

: Guard dogs, as seen here in a joint Belarusian-Russian military exercise, are more likely to leave teeth marks on your legs.

: Official British Army mascots are entitled to the services of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, as well as food and housing at the taxpayer’s expense. The Sherwood Foresters regiment has kept a ram for over a century and a half. The regiment has two handlers whose sole duty is to look after the ram. They are given the rank of ‘Ram Major’ and ‘Ram Orderly’. And people say the miltary doesn’t have a sense of humour.

: Camels from the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary patrol the border of India and Pakistan during the war between the two countries in 1964.

: Camels were traditionally preferred to horses in desert settings for their resilience and adaptability, but their unpredictability means they have rarely been used for front-line warfare. In the 1850s the USA experimented unsuccessfully with importing camels from north Africa to transport goods to the western states.

: It’s not only large animals that can prove useful in war. Belgian soldiers attach a message to a carrier pigeon in October 1915. Pigeons have been known to transport messages over distances of over 50 miles.

: A soldier looks after an orphaned baby chimpanzee in Goma, Congo, after eating its mother. Well, it was the least he could do.

: Indonesian Special Forces during a helicopter drill in Jakarta. The Indonesian military uses dogs to fight terrorism, perhaps mindful that there are few sights more terrifying than seeing an Alsatian falling out of the sky.

: Another collateral victim of war is pictured here, at Marahland Zoo in Gaza. Faced with an Israeli blockade, the zoo’s owners were unable to bring in any new animals. Their solution? Paint one of the white donkeys to look like a zebra. It’s hard to know who would have been more bemused, the zoo’s visitors or the donkey.

: Egyptian soldiers performing at the annual Arabian Horse Festival, although playing a bugle whilst riding is not generally to be advised.

: These days military use of elephants is solely in a ceremonial capacity, as seen here during the Sri Lankan independence day celebrations in Colombo.

: Birds have had other uses, too. A French soldier uses a bird to detect the presence of poison gas on the Maginot Line in 1939.

: When it comes to military pedigree, it is the horse that’s pre-eminent. Here Indian mounted soldiers take part in the Army Day parade in New Delhi.

: Palestinian Hamas soldiers at their military graduation ceremony.

: RAF handlers load dogs into a van in 1944. These dogs were used to sniff out people buried in bombing attacks. The Second World War was especially hard on dogs. For a start, from their point of view it would have lasted for 42 years.

: Animals don’t have to be enlisted to get caught up in conflict. When a plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Centre in 2001, Michael Hingson was at work with his guide dog Roselle sleeping under his desk. The labrador fearlessly guided Hingson through 78 floors of smoke-filled stairwell to safety, and received a medal for her trouble.

: Soldiers train dogs in Qinghai Province, China. The dogs will mainly serve in anti-riot and search operations. The tamers train the dogs to sit, lie, bark, walk and snatch.

: Of course, unleashing the dogs of war is nothing new. Here, sentry dogs and their handlers are pictured on patrol in central Vietnam in 1969.

: Here, UN military vets tend to a goat in Lebanon. In many ways, animals are the forgotten casualties of war. In World War One it is estimated that Britain lost almost half of its horses, approximately half a million in total.

: Elephants have been used in warfare for thousands of years. They were a staple of Alexander the Great’s army during his charge through the Middle East in the fourth century BC, although their usefulness diminished sharply with the invention of the cannon in the Middle Ages. This picture depicts a scene from the Sikh War in 1849, where elephants were used against the British in India.

: Cpl Dave Heyhoe and explosives sniffer dog Treo of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, during an operation to capture Taliban leaders in Kandahar province earlier this year. Search dogs such as Treo tend to be friendly and very active.

: Don’t worry, this horse isn’t dead – it’s just very well trained. Lance Corporal Stephen Heaney rehearses for the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo earlier this year.