There have been other cases of animal warfare that have shifted the course of the conflict, but this is one occasion that has contributed to the fall of an empire. During the 16th century, the Saadi Dynasty of Morocco invaded the neighboring Songhai Empire. The two sides met in combat at the Battle of Tondibi on March 13, 1591. This was the first time that the Songhai encountered gunpowder weapons and they were clearly not prepared for them. In a foolish move, they decided to employ a strategy they had used before, which was to start their attack by unleashing a giant stampede of hundreds of cattle. The goal was to drive the animals through the center of the enemy lines, causing casualties and chaos.

Unfortunately for them, they did not predict the impact of gunpowder weapons on livestock. The smoke and loud noises startled the animals. Instead, they turned around and stampeded through the Songhai army, leaving it entirely exposed to the approaching Moroccans. The Songhai empire was destroyed soon after the Battle of Tondibi.

Date: March 13, 1591

Everyone is aware that pigeons can be quite useful in times of conflict. Their exceptional homing abilities make them ideal couriers, capable of transporting important information even to and from the frontlines. Hundreds of thousands of pigeons were utilized in World War II, so it's not surprise that individuals got interested in ways to stop the feathered birds from reaching their destination.

That's where MI5 came in, training peregrine falcons to monitor the sky and take out any pigeons they saw, on the off-chance that they were carrying vital communications between the Germans and their agents abroad. The anti-pigeon force was established on the Scilly Isles in 1942 to keep an eye out for any pigeons attempting to make their way to France.

At the same time, Britain used its own pigeons and air-dropped over 16,000 of these birds in German-occupied France and the Netherlands during an intelligence-gathering operation codenamed Source Columba, hoping that the locals would return them back with useful information. To that aim, MI5 established a Falcon Destruction Unit, which consisted of snipers trained to take out wild falcons and other raptors that might have posed a threat to the returning pigeons.

Date: from 1941 to September 1944

Staying in the world of invertebrates, you will now look at the scorpion bomb, a powerful weapon utilized by King Barsamia of Hatra against the Romans during the Second Parthian War. Septimius Severus besieged Hatra, a fortified city in modern-day Iraq, in 198 AD. However, the Romans were unaware that Hatra was home to a poisonous type of scorpion known as the deathstalker. They also had no idea that King Barsamia had entire clay pots packed with these arachnids, as he sent out personnel on a daily basis to clear the roadways and maintain them safe for caravans.

You can probably anticipate what occurred next: those pots were transformed into scorpion bombs that rained down on Romans attempting to reach Hatra's walls. While the sting of the deathstalker was rarely lethal, it was undoubtedly potent enough to paralyze the warriors and cause excruciating pain. Severus eventually decided to raise the siege and depart the city.

Date: AD 198

Bees have been employed in warfare since ancient times and continue to be utilized now because few things can disrupt a unit of soldiers faster than a swarm of angry bees. At the Siege of Eupatoria, King Mithridates of Pontus is claimed to have used "crazy honey" to incapacitate the Romans. King Henry I of England may have used catapults to launch complete beehives right into the heart of his adversary's army. During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong planted Asian gigantic honeybee colonies in the pathways of American forces and released them using firecrackers or tiny explosives.

But it's possible that insects played the most essential part in World War I's Battle of Tanga, commonly known as the Battle of the Bees. It was the first major action of the East African Campaign, taking place in November 1914. A British and Indian force led by General Arthur Aitken outnumbered the Germans led by General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck by more than 8-to-1, but they were crushed. Part of the issue was Aitken's forces' inexperience and lack of training. Another issue was the Germans' strengthened position, although the bees played a critical role.

Several hives on the battlefield were disrupted by the fighting. They attacked with ferocious tenacity, and despite being stung on both sides, they focused the majority of their wrath on the Indian and British forces attempting to cross the battlefield to reach the Germans. Aitken's plan for a large-scale assault was abandoned, allowing Lettow-Vorbeck to mount a counterattack and win the battle.

Date: November 1914

The US Navy Marine Mammal Program, or NMMP, has been in existence since the 1950s, since marine creatures have proven to be very eager and effective in providing support to Navy forces, particularly in mine detection and object recovery. The project's indisputable stars are the bottle-nose dolphin and the California sea lion. They are currently the only creatures still utilized in the program, but in its early years, the NMMP tested with hundreds of marine animal species to determine which ones were best suited for a future in the Navy. Sharks were included.

Their plan was to convert sharks into torpedoes by strapping bombs to them and then using electrical signals to guide them to their targets. This proposal, known as Project Headgear, was explored during the Cold War but had to be canceled before it could be implemented. The sharks appear to have simply refused to obey directions, and none of them finished their route during trial runs.

Date: 1950

The Kuwaiti Field Chickens ranks 6th in the list of Curious Examples of Animals in Warfare. You might think that something called a “Poultry Chemical Confirmation Device” would be something fancy and high-tech, but you would be wrong. It actually was a chicken in a cage, strapped to the roof of a military Humvee. During the Gulf War, American troops employed the hens to identify deadly gases or chemical agents. Even though the soldiers were armed with superior detection systems, the pollution created by burst oil rigs often resulted in false findings.

As a result, the hens provided a low-tech but effective alternative. They had a very weak respiratory system, so if they died, it signaled to the troops that it was time to put on their gas masks, much like the ancient canaries in the coal mines. This strategy was dubbed by the US Army Operation Kuwaiti Field Chicken, or KFC, since the poultry were otherwise destined for the dinner table.

The Trouble-Sniffing Gerbils ranks 7th in the list of Curious Examples of Animals in Warfare. MI5 came up with the notion in the 1970s. Gerbils can detect elevated adrenalin levels in human sweat, therefore they might be trained to sniff out spies, terrorists, and other subversive operators. MI5 quickly rejected the idea, but it was picked up by Canadian experts who believed they could employ gerbils in airports for the same purposes.

They proposed that the fuzzy rodents may be trained to push a lever when they detected abnormal adrenalin levels using Pavlovian responses. They may then be maintained at airport immigration queues, with fans silently wafting the aromas of all the travelers towards them. The scheme was carried out by Shin Bet, Israel's internal security department, who utilized gerbils at Tel Aviv airport. Unfortunately, they quickly realized that, instead of spies and terrorists, the rodents were picking up on a lot of false positives, most of which were people carrying heavy luggage or simply worried fliers.

This one originates from World War II, courtesy of the Special Operations Executive of the United Kingdom (SOE). The fundamental idea was simple: take some dead rats, tear them up, stuff them with explosives, and stitch them back together. The explosive rodents were then to be handed to spies and resistance fighters in occupied France who could infiltrate German-run factories and other places and simply leave them on the floor.

Workers or troops who came across the dead rats were supposed to dispose of them by dumping them into the furnace, causing an explosion. The "rat bombs" were never deployed, however, because the Germans intercepted the initial shipment and discovered the scheme. Nonetheless, the SOE was pleased with the outcome since it led the Germans to spend a significant amount of time and effort checking other dead rats to determine if they had been booby-trapped. "The trouble we caused them was a lot larger success for us than if the rats had actually been employed," the SOE determined.

Date: 1941

For thousands of years, humans have used animals as incendiary weapons. One famed anecdote, which may or may not be genuine, surrounds Genghis Khan, who allegedly utilized swallows and cats during his fight in China with the Western Xia Empire.

During the early 13th century, when laying siege to the city of Volohoi, Genghis offered terms of peace: the Mongols would lift the siege in exchange for 1,000 cats and 10,000 swallows. The Xia consented to their requirements and immediately gathered the necessary animals to give as tribute. The Mongols, on the other hand, had other ideas. They tied cotton to the animals' tails, set them on fire, and released them at the city's outskirts. Most of the animals rushed back into the city, which was mostly made of wood, in a panic. Thousands of fires erupted all at once inside Volohoi, overwhelming the residents. Meanwhile, the Mongols assaulted the city, taking advantage of the disarray and confusion.

Date: 1207

This occurred in 218 BC, kicking off the Second Punic War between the two Mediterranean powers of the period, Rome and Carthage. The Romans had won the First Punic War, in which Hannibal's father, Hamilcar, served as a general. When Hannibal decided to go to war, he wanted to do something daring and unexpected: he wanted to cross the Alps and march straight into Italy, avoiding the Roman Navy and its allied garrisons.

Crossing the Alps with an army was deemed impossible at the time, and even Hannibal found the voyage dangerous. They were ambushed and harried by Gaulic tribes on the ascent, while the descent was full of tiny, icy trails that caused many people to fall to their deaths. And if that wasn't perilous enough, Hannibal did it all while being accompanied by dozens of elephants.

However, the hazardous gamble paid off. Hannibal arrived in Italy in December and battled the Romans at the Battle of Trebbia. The roughly three dozen war elephants performed admirably, scaring the enemy horses and causing complete pandemonium among the Roman cavalry, resulting in a decisive Carthaginian victory.

Date: 218 BC