Fact · Eriskay
The Eriskay pony carried the whisky, and is now rarer than the giant panda
When the SS Politician's whisky came ashore in 1941, it was Eriskay ponies that carried it up the beach. The breed is now on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's critical list, with fewer than 300 breeding females in the world.
The Eriskay pony, Each Beag nan Eilean, is a small grey Hebridean pony with roots in Celtic and Norse breeding. It may be the last surviving native Hebridean pony breed; most others were crossed with Arabs and Clydesdales to make bigger draught animals. In 1941 the ponies carried away the cargo of the wrecked SS Politician. By the 1970s the breed was almost gone, and its society was formed in 1972 with King Charles III as patron. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust classes it as critical: fewer than 300 breeding females registered worldwide.
Sources / notes: Wikipedia: Eriskay Pony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eriskay_Pony