Meet the Zoo Hiding in the Tube Map

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Rats and other vermin live in the London Underground, and there are probably urban legends around about bigger, nastier animals down in the Tube. But a whale? An elephant? And an emu? How about a pig, a polar bear and a baby rhino? All these and more species, enough to fill a zoo, live in the Underground – but not in the actual tunnels: they’re cleverly hiding in the map of the Underground.

Someone collected them all at this site, where you can check out all the beasts squatting in the Tube Map. Henceforth, you will be travelling along familiar lines to stations code-named for their parallel purpose in this secret bestiary:

A trip from Euston to Angel is a ride along the top of the Whale’s Fin

Travelling from Goodge Street to Holborn means switching from the Northern to the Central Line at Tottenham Court Road. Which is a hassle. But now you’ve made the Polar Bear Smile

Green Park is the Whale’s Eye

Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square are the Hound’s Eyes – right and left, respectively

It’s all a matter of taste, of course. The Hound’s Eyes are also the Fox’s Eyes. And the Whale’s Eye could be the Elephant’s Mouth, if you prefer.

Westferrry, on the Docklands Light Railway, pretty much is the Dog’s Arse, though

Foxes, the sourge of London – both overground and Underground.

Since Animals on the Underground first came to our attention, the scope of the website has expanded. The site now also shows animals on the New York, Moscow and Paris Metros:

Moscow Metro Goldfish

Blue Tit hiding in the New York Metro, just south of Central Park

An Alsatian on the Paris Metro

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people