Fun Riddle: How Many Animals Are Going Towards The River?

Read the riddle carefully and leave your answers in the comment section.


One rabbit saw 6 elephants while going towards the river.

Each elephant saw 2 monkeys going towards the river.

Every monkey has one parrot in their hands.

How many animals are going towards the river?


Apparently it’s an IIM interview question and 80 % of the people get the wrong answer.

So if you get the right answer it with your friends on WhatsApp and Facebook.

20 Replies to “Fun Riddle: How Many Animals Are Going Towards The River?”

  1. they say it’s 5 BUT the rabbit is going to the river the monkeys and birds are going towards the river not saying they going to the river for sure but only 4

  2. Too many uncertainties to be able to arrive to a correct number……..all arguments are good…..to arrive at a number

  3. Tony Williams OK I’ve got this !!! so far almost everyone is RIGHT AND WRONG ! !!OK stay with me here first fact the rabbit is heading toward the river so we can assune thats where he is going ! (1) now this rabbit see’s 6 elephants ! there is no clear direction given to them so they do not count . however the next phase is the 6 elephants see 2 monkeys each heading to the river ! this does not say they see the same to monkeys so the numbers can be anywhere from ( 2 to 12) each of these monkeys has one parrot in its hands ! it does not say each monkey has a seperate parrot ! so this number can be from ( 1 to 12 ) ! there for the range of numbers for this is between 4( 1 rabbit , 2 monkey’s , 1 parrot ) OR 25( 1 rabbit , 12 monkey’s , 12 parrot’s ) ! so this is the perfct and corret anwer case closed !

  4. We don’t have enough information to tell. The text of the problem is written in the past tense (saw). The question itself is asking about the present (are going). Animals saw other animals while going there, but that doesn’t mean that they are presently still headed there, as the question asks.

  5. if question is EACH elephant saw 2 monkey Then answer is 37.
    if every elephant saw 2 monkey. then answer is 5.

    normally this question is every elephant. but here it is mentioned each elephant saw two monkeys so ans – 37

    parrot is a animal.

    1. I don’t think we have enough information to answer this question. Let’s say if all elephants were together while they saw the two monkeys. In this case, I don’t think saying each elephants saw two monkeys vs. saying every monkeys saw two monkeys have different meanings. But, on the other hand, if some of the elephants were separated and were present in different locations, then your interpretation of each vs every would be correct.

  6. 1 rabbit is okay, 6 elephants saw 6 different 2 sets of monkeys or 6 elephants saw same 2 sets of monkeys?
    if it is different then 6*2 = 12 monkeys are moving towards river or else only 2 monkeys are moving towards river and the the same with parrots. So it may be 1Rabbit+12Monkeys+12Parrots = 25 or 1Rabbit+2Monkeys+2parrots = 5,
    provided Parrot as an animal 🙂

  7. First of all only 1 rabbit is going towards the river. On the way it saw 6 elephants but they aren’t going towards the river so, just forget the elephants. And each of the 6 elephants saw 2 monkeys each going towards the river so eventually 2 monkeys are indeed moving towards the river…. Now the final answer is 1 rabbit+2 monkeys= 3 animals in total

    1. All organisms except plants and micro-organisms are animals. Birds, reptiles, insects, amphibians, fishes, molluscans, annelida , etc are included in kingdom ANIMALIA.

      So parrot is an animal

  8. 1 rabbit & 2 monkey are going towards river.. …parrot is not an animal it’s a bird
    So total 3 animal are going towards river

    1. Since when are birds not animals?
      In classic taxonomy taught decades ago, most scientists classify a living organism to be either animal, plant, fungus, algae (defunct), or bacteria. The system of classification is still being debated and domains and kingdoms have been added or removed, however, a bird is still an animal, not a plant or fungus.

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