How Could Noah Fit All the Animals on the Ark?

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 (Genesis 6:19).

In the book Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study¹, creationist researcher John Woodmorappe suggests that, at most, 16,000 animals were all that were needed to preserve the created kinds that God brought into the Ark.

The Ark did not need to carry every kind of animal—nor did God command it. It carried only air-breathing, land-dwelling animals, creeping things, and winged animals such as birds. Aquatic life (fish, whales, etc.) and many amphibious creatures could have survived in sufficient numbers outside the Ark. This cuts down significantly the total number of animals that needed to be on board.

Another factor which greatly reduces the space requirements is the fact that the tremendous variety in species we see today did not exist in the days of Noah. Only the parent “kinds” of these species were required to be on board in order to repopulate the earth.² For example, only two dogs were needed to give rise to all the dog species that exist today.

Woodmorappe's suggestion for smaller animal cages
that would be suitable for animals such as rodents,
modeled by Arnold Mendez³

Creationist estimates for the maximum number of animals that would have been necessary to come on board the Ark have ranged from a few thousand to 35,000, but they may be as few as two thousand if the biblical kind is approximately the same as the modern family classification.

As stated before, Noah wouldn’t have taken the largest animals onto the Ark; it is more likely he took juveniles aboard the Ark to repopulate the earth after the Flood was over. These younger animals also require less space, less food, and have less waste.

Using a short cubit of 18 inches (46 cm) for the Ark to be conservative, Woodmorappe’s conclusion is that “less than half of the cumulative area of the Ark’s three decks need to have been occupied by the animals and their enclosures.”⁴ This meant there was plenty of room for fresh food, water, and even many other people.

(Reposted from Ken Ham & Tim Lovett, Was There Really a Noah’s Ark & Flood?, October 11, 2007, AnswersInGenesis.org)

(For historical fiction that touches on this topic, see Chapter 19: Dark Vessel of The Coming Wrath)

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References

1. J. Woodmorappe, Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study, Institute for Creation Research, Santee, California, 2003

2. Here’s one example: more than 200 different breeds of dogs exist today, from the miniature poodle to the St. Bernard—all of which have descended from one original dog “kind” (as have the wolf, dingo, etc.). Many other types of animals— cat kind, horse kind, cow kind, etc.—have similarly been naturally and selectively bred to achieve the wonderful variation in species that we have today. God “programmed” this variety into the genetic code of all animal kinds—even humankind! God also made it impossible for the basic “kinds” of animals to breed and reproduce with each other. For example, cats and dogs cannot breed to make a new type of creature. This is by God’s design, and it is one fact that makes evolution impossible.

3. Tim Lovett, An Ark full of Nests, WorldWideFlood.com, June 2007.

4. Woodmorappe, Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study, 16.