As governments around the world are tightening the public purse strings to cope with the economic turmoil brought about by COVID-19, you might be shocked at some of the ways authorities have spent taxpayers' cash in recent years. From an experiment where researchers watched hamsters fighting to spending millions of dollars on faulty face masks to a giant squid, click or scroll through to see the astounding ways governments have blown public money.

All dollar values in US dollars unless otherwise stated.