TV writers aren't biologists, so you have to be a little forgiving when a show throws an animal on the scene that really has no business being there. Sometimes the animal isn't native to that part of the country, while in other cases the animal gets picked for comedic value. Here are some prime examples of shows where the animals depicted have no business being there.
The first season of this period drama takes place in 1492. The premiere featured a pet capuchin monkey as a plot device, with the monkey being poisoned. In Season 2, another capuchin is introduced, named Julius, which della Rovere uses to test his food for poison. There's just one problem with all this monkey business. The capuchins are native to the New World, making it pretty unlikely that they would have been in Rome prior to the return of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
"Lost"
One of the great moments of the show's first season is the first appearance of that wonderfully unexpected polar bear, which completely startles the survivors. Polar bears don't live on tropical islands, but there's a decent explanation: The DHARMA Initiative brought them there, along with other animals, for use in gene research.
In one episode, Serena and Trip get into a car accident after wolves walk out into the road. However, considering that the show is set in New York, it's pretty unlikely that could ever happen. While there are small populations of coyotes, wolves are almost unheard of these days throughout New York and the Northeastern part of the U.S.
"M*A*S*H"
A lot of TV fans forget this, but Radar had a pet skunk. But where did he get it from? Skunks aren't native to Korea, so it's probably not local. But if it's not local, then it must have been shipped over from the U.S., and it's too bad we never got to see how that conversation played out.
"American Dad" and "CSI: Miami"
Both of these popular shows have had the same problem in past episodes: They've featured grizzly bears in states where the bears aren't native. "American Dad" is set in Virginia, and both Virginia and Florida are nowhere near the Western U.S., which is where those species of bears still live. Black bears would have been the better choice in both cases, but maybe the name black bear just isn't as scary as grizzly bear.
