What is the estimated number of animals on Noah's ark?

Answer 1

A:If the story of Noah's Ark had really happened as described in The Bible, every air-breathing animal alive today would have been represented on the Ark, including birds, snakes, lizards, worms, centipedes, all kinds of insects and so on. Of course, the Hebrews who developed this story could not have known about ardvaaks, cormorants, koalas or kangaroos. they would not have known that there were several species and subspecies of elephants and rhinoceruses.

The Avibase database contains records about 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds in the world. In addition, some birds have become extinct in recent centuries, while many in remote areas have not yey been catalogued. If we regard the story of Noah's Ark as literally true, there must have been over 80,000 birds representing over 40,000 species and subspecies. They range from the ostrich and the even larger, extinct moa down to the smallest finches.

As an estimate, there would have to have been more than a million animals, all of which would have needed to be returned to exactly the right location on the globe after the Flood subsided.

Another Answer:

Considering a statistical approach for this question, it is easy to see that Noah's Ark could have carried its intended cargo. A study by John Woodmorappe ( Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study, 1996, p. 7), indicates the total of the animals that Noah would have needed in the ark to meet the biblical requirements (see Genesis 6) would number between 2,000 and 16,000-not in the hundreds of thousands or even millions as many reason to have been necessary.

Genesis 6:17-20 - New King James Version (NKJV)

17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which isthe breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark-you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

A cursory reading of Genesis 6 will reveal some often overlooked, but very important details. The Bible doesn't state anywhere that Noah had to take on board the Ark all or every living creature. There were only three requirements for the animals to be loaded on the ark. They had to be 'air-breathing' and of the same biblical kind and only land-dwelling - all ocean creatures were unaffected. A biblical 'kind' is akin to a 'genus' in science today. Even evolutionary scientist attest that every 'dog' today came from a single pair and taken farther, all 'canine' family (wolves, bears, foxes, dogs, etc) could come from a basic 'kind' of pairing over time.

The Ark was the size of a WWII US Aircraft Carrier and therefore had more than enough space to house the terrestrial creatures, including the 8 humans over the year plus conveniently. After their release, God 'de-pacifies' the animals and puts the fear of man into them. He scatters them on their way (timing unknown) to their particular geographic locations just as He did to man (beginning of the dispersal with later various migrations) in the Tower of Babel story.