101+ German Animal Names (with English Translations)

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If your childhood was anything like mine, animals played a big role in your language development. You read brightly coloured books about farm animals, watched trips to the zoo on television and sang songs about the animals people owned.

Animal words are useful for adult German learners too. They give you a manageable set of nouns for practising grammatical gender, plural forms and compound words. You will also need them when you talk about pets, describe wildlife or visit a zoo.

Learn each noun as a small unit: the article, the singular and the plural. For example, learn der Hund, die Hunde, rather than Hund on its own. German nouns are capitalised, and grammatical gender does not necessarily match an animal’s biological sex.

• der marks a masculine singular noun;
• die marks a feminine singular noun and every plural noun; and
• das marks a neuter singular noun.

Here are more than 100 German animal words, followed by a practical way to remember their articles and use them in context.

Before we get started, if you’re looking for an online German course, here’s the course I recommend: German Uncovered – Learn German Through the Power of Story, a course with a fascinating new method by my friend Olly. You can try it for free for 7 days!

101+ German Animal Names by Category

German Pets

The German word for a pet is das Haustier, literally a “house animal”. Here are common pets and the words you can use to talk about them:

• der Hund (the dog)
• der Welpe (the puppy)
• die Katze (the cat)
• der Kater (the tomcat)
• das Kaninchen (the rabbit)
• der Fisch (the fish)
• der Hamster (the hamster)
• das Meerschweinchen (the guinea pig)
• die Schlange (the snake)
• der Vogel (the bird)
• der Papagei (the parrot)
• die Eidechse (the lizard)
• die Maus (the mouse)
• der Gecko (the gecko)
• die Schildkröte (the turtle)

German Farm Animals

You will meet farm-animal words in children’s stories, food conversations and trips through the German countryside:

• das Huhn (the chicken)
• das Küken (the baby chick)
• die Kuh (the cow)
• das Schwein (the pig)
• das Schaf (the sheep)
• das Lamm (the lamb)
• die Ziege (the goat)
• das Pferd (the horse)
• der Esel (the donkey)
• die Ente (the duck)

Common German Wildlife

These are useful words for animals and wildlife you may hear about in Germany. One distinction matters here: der Hirsch is a red deer and can also mean the male of that species, while das Reh is a roe deer. Reh does not simply mean a female deer.

• der Hase (the hare)
• das Eichhörnchen (the squirrel)
• die Biene (the bee)
• die Spinne (the spider)
• der Wolf (the wolf)
• der Dachs (the badger)
• die Fledermaus (the bat)
• der Igel (the hedgehog)
• der Otter (the otter)
• der Hirsch (the red deer; also a male red deer)
• das Reh (the roe deer)
• der Bär (the bear)
• der Elch (the moose)
• die Spitzmaus (the shrew)
• das Wildschwein (the wild boar)

German Safari Animals

Several safari-animal names look familiar to English speakers. Treat that as a memory clue, but still check the German pronunciation and plural:

• der Löwe (the lion)
• die Giraffe (the giraffe)
• der Tiger (the tiger)
• der Elefant (the elephant)
• das Zebra (the zebra)
• der Leopard (the leopard)
• der Panther (the panther)
• der Affe (the monkey)
• der Gepard (the cheetah)
• die Antilope (the antelope)
• das Flusspferd (the hippopotamus)
• der Pavian (the baboon)
• das Nashorn (the rhinoceros)
• der Gorilla (the gorilla)
• das Erdmännchen (the meerkat)
• das Warzenschwein (the warthog)
• der Mungo (the mongoose)
• das Kamel (the camel)
• das Erdferkel (the aardvark)

German Animals That Bite or Sting

These words can help you describe an insect bite, sting or other unwelcome encounter:

• die Ameise (the ant)
• die Biene (the bee)
• die Wespe (the wasp)
• die Hornisse (the hornet)
• die Qualle (the jellyfish)
• der Skorpion (the scorpion)
• die Giftschlange (the venomous snake)
• die Spinne (the spider)
• die Zecke (the tick)
• die Stechmücke (the mosquito)
• die Bremse (the horsefly)
• die Bettwanze (the bedbug)

German Sea Life

Sea-animal names give you several clear compound words, including der Seestern, literally “sea star”, and der Seeigel, literally “sea hedgehog”:

• der Wal (the whale)
• der Hai (the shark)
• die Robbe (the seal)
• das Walross (the walrus)
• der Delfin (the dolphin)
• die Krabbe (the crab)
• der Hummer (the lobster)
• die Garnele (the shrimp)
• der Seestern (the starfish)
• der Seeigel (the sea urchin)
• der Kalmar (the squid)
• der Krake (the octopus)
• die Grüne Meeresschildkröte (the green sea turtle)
• der Stachelrochen (the stingray)
• der Seelöwe (the sea lion)

German Cold Weather Animals

Cold-weather animals include more compounds and a few words borrowed from other languages:

• der Eisbär (the polar bear)
• der Pinguin (the penguin)
• der Schneeleopard (the snow leopard)
• der Narwal (the narwhal)
• das Karibu (the caribou); der Karibu is also used

German Birds

If there’s one thing I love, it’s walking through the German countryside while my girlfriend’s brother tells me about all of the different types of birds we can see. There’s nothing like seeing a hawk on the hunt to show you how incredible nature is!

• die Taube (the pigeon or dove)
• die Elster (the magpie)
• der Spatz (the sparrow)
• die Schwalbe (the swallow)
• die Amsel (the blackbird)
• der Specht (the woodpecker)
• die Eule (the owl)
• die Möwe (the gull)
• die Krähe (the crow)
• die Gans (the goose)
• der Falke (the falcon)
• der Wellensittich (the budgie)
• der Geier (the vulture)
• der Pfau (the peacock)

German Pond Life

Ponds and lakes make up the centrepieces of many German parks and countryside hikes, so it pays to be able to point out what you can see!

• der Frosch (the frog)
• die Kröte (the toad)
• die Kaulquappe (the tadpole)
• der Karpfen (the carp)
• der Wassermolch (the newt)

German Animal Parts

Want to talk about the specific parts of an animal? Then this final chunk of the list is for you!

• der Schwanz (the tail)
• die Schnauze (the snout)
• die Pfote (the paw)
• die Pranke (the paw of a lion, tiger or bear)
• der Pelz (the animal fur)
• die Feder (the feather)
• das Gefieder (the plumage/feathering)
• der Stoßzahn (the tusk)
• das Horn (the horn)

How to Remember German Animal Words

Do not try to memorise the whole list in one sitting. Pick the words you are likely to use, learn each one with its article and plural, then put it into a short sentence. The patterns below can reduce the load, but they are clues rather than substitutes for checking a dictionary.

Use English-German Cognates Carefully

Some animal names look similar in English and German. That makes the meaning easier to remember, but it does not make the pronunciation or plural automatic.

• the gorilla: der Gorilla, die Gorillas
• the zebra: das Zebra, die Zebras
• the elephant: der Elefant, die Elefanten
• the antelope: die Antilope, die Antilopen

Notice that the first two plurals end in -s, while the other two end in -en. Say the German forms aloud and put each one into a sentence instead of relying on an English-style pronunciation.

Use the Last Word in German Compounds

German compounds take their grammatical gender from the last noun, called the head. Once you know das Schwein, you can predict the article for compounds that end in -schwein:

• the guinea pig: das Meerschwein
• the porcupine: das Stachelschwein
• the wild boar: das Wildschwein
• the warthog: das Warzenschwein

The same principle works with heads such as das Pferd, die Maus, die Kröte and der Bär. Break a long animal word into parts, identify the last noun, then check the full word in a dictionary to confirm its meaning and plural.

“-chen” Is Always Neuter

The diminutive suffix -chen always makes a noun neuter, so it takes das. You can see it in das Kaninchen and das Eichhörnchen.

A true diminutive may also change the stem vowel. For example, der Bär becomes das Bärchen. Do not attach -chen to every animal word and assume the result will be idiomatic; learn forms you meet from a reliable dictionary or native example.

Most Nouns Ending in “-e” Are Feminine

Many German nouns ending in an unstressed -e are feminine, including die Katze, die Eidechse and die Ente. It is a useful clue, not a rule you can apply blindly.

Animal words provide several exceptions: der Affe, der Hase, der Löwe and der Falke are all masculine. Keep learning the article with the noun.

Treat Grammatical Gender as Grammar

Grammatical gender belongs to the noun, not to the animal you happen to picture. Guessing from films or stereotypes may occasionally work by chance, but it will also teach you confident mistakes.

Die Katze can refer to a cat generally, while der Kater specifies a male cat. Die Ente can refer to a duck generally, while der Erpel is a drake. Das Kaninchen stays grammatically neuter even when the rabbit itself is male or female.

Use patterns such as compound heads and -chen as memory support, then confirm uncertain words in Duden or another current German dictionary.

German Animal Phrases and Idioms

Animal idioms turn several of these nouns into expressions you will hear in conversation. Learn the meaning and register with the wording, because a literal translation will not tell you when an expression sounds playful, old-fashioned or rude.

Die Katze im Sack kaufen

This literally means “to buy the cat in the sack”. It describes buying or accepting something without checking what it really is.

An online mystery box is a modern example: you pay before you know exactly what is inside.

Einem geschenkten Gaul schaut man nicht ins Maul

English has the same proverb: “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” It means you should not criticise a gift or inspect it for faults.

Gaul is an older word for a horse and can sound disparaging in other contexts.

Einen Vogel haben

The literal wording is “to have a bird”.

Informally, it says that someone is acting crazy or has a screw loose. It can sound insulting, so recognise it before you decide to use it.

Du schlauer Fuchs!

Du schlauer Fuchs! means “you clever fox!” You can use it playfully when somebody finds a smart solution.

Da steppt der Bär

This is one of my favourite sayings. It literally says “that’s where the bear tap-dances”.

It means that a party or event is lively and worth attending. Hier steppt der Bär! tells a friend that this is where the action is.

Hier sieht es aus wie im Schweinestall

You may hear this when a room is very dirty or untidy.

It means “it looks like a pigsty in here”.

Bei diesem Wetter schickt man keinen Hund vor die Tür

This expression is for weather so unpleasant that nobody should have to go outside.

It literally means “in this weather, you wouldn’t send a dog out the door”.

Practise Your German Animal Words

Choose ten words that fit your life. Write the article and plural on one side of a card, then add a short sentence on the other. Say the sentence aloud, review it tomorrow and replace words you already know with ten new ones.

If you want a ready-made system for reviewing word lists, Fi3M’s Vocab Vault gives you a reusable set of vocabulary-learning tools. The important part is to practise a small useful set in context instead of trying to swallow all 100 words at once.