GOING ON SAFARI TO AFRICA? THIS INTERESTING INFORMATION IS WELL WORTH READING.

COLLECTIVE NAMES OF AFRICAN MAMMALS

Species Collective noun

Antelope herd, cluster, tribe

Apes shrewdness, troop

Badgers cete, colony

Cats (Wild) destruction, dowt, dout

Cheetah coalition

Elephant parade, herd

Giraffe tower, corps, journey, group

Hedgehogs array, prickle

Hippo raft, pod, bloat, thunder, school

Hyaena clan

Impala rank

Jackal skulk

Leopard leap, lepe

Lion pride, sault, sowse

Monkeys shrewdness, cartload, troop, troup

Mongoose business

Pigs (Wild) sounder

Rhino crash, stubbornness, herd

Wild Dog pack

Wildebeest implausibility, herd

Zebra dazzle, zeal, cohort

AFRICAN WILD MAMMAL NAME ORIGINS

Aardvark - Afrikaans word translation “earth pig” as ears and nose resemble those of a pig, also burrows a lot

Bat-eared fox – Refers to the big ears resembling those of an egyptian slit-faced bat

Blesbok – Afrikaans word translation “bald buck” referring to the white blaze on the face

Bushbaby – Lives in the “bush” and their call sounds like that of a crying baby

Caracal – From the Turkish name “garah-gulak” meaning black ear, with reference to the black ear tufts

Cheetah – Hindu word “chita” meaning “spotted one”

Duiker – Afrikaans word meaning “diver” from the action of the antelope when running away

Eland – Dutch word “elphas” and latin word “elehantus” for the species

Gemsbok – Dutch word “gems” meaning chamois in reference to colour

Genet – Name of an area in Spain the species inhabited in the 18th century

Giraffe – Arabic word “xirapha” meaning “one who walks swiftly”

Hartebeest – Afrikaans word translation “heart cow” with reference to the shape of the horns

Hippopotamus – Greek “(h)ippo” meaning horse, and “pot-amus” meaning flowing river – a river horse

Honey Badger – Eats honey, badger from the French word “becheur” meaning digger

Impala – Zulu name “imphala” and Tswana name “phala” for the species

Jackal – Persian name “sagal” for the golden jackal

Klipspringer – Afrikaans word translation “stone jumper” with reference to the bounding action in rocky habitat

Kudu – Khoikhoi name for the species

Leopard – Greek word “pardus” for panther and “leo” for lion, shortened to leopard from leopardus

Lion – Greek word “leon” for the species

Mongoose – Indian name “mangus” for the species

Nyala – Zulu name “iNxala” for the species

Pangolin – Malay name for “peng-goling” for the species, which means “the roller” from their habit of rolling into a ball for protection

Porcupine – Greek word “porcus” meaning pig and “spina” meaning species, direct translation “spined pig”

Rhinoceros – Greek word “rhis” meaning nose and “keras” meaning horn, direct translation “nose horn”

Springbok – Afrikaans meaning “jumping buck” in reference to their unique jumping action called “pronking”

Warthog – Refers to the outgrowths or warts on the face

Zebra – Portuguese or Italian name of the species in the Congo Region

For Interesting African Animal facts with corresponding photos, visit our website under Wild News.