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Random Animal Generator

143 real species, and every one of them is in the table below. Press the button for one at random — you get its class, where it actually lives, what it eats and, where a proper term exists, what a group of them is called.

Press the button for an animal.

no repeats until the list is used up

143 animals in this list.

All 143 animals on this list

Animal	Class	Where it lives	Diet	A group is called
Lion	Mammal	Sub-Saharan Africa, and one small population in India	Carnivore	pride
Tiger	Mammal	South and Southeast Asia, and the Russian Far East	Carnivore	streak
Leopard	Mammal	Africa and much of Asia	Carnivore	leap
Jaguar	Mammal	Central and South America	Carnivore
Cheetah	Mammal	Eastern and southern Africa, a few in Iran	Carnivore	coalition
Snow leopard	Mammal	Mountains of Central and South Asia	Carnivore
Cougar	Mammal	The Americas, from Canada to Patagonia	Carnivore
Eurasian lynx	Mammal	Forests of Europe and Siberia	Carnivore
Grey wolf	Mammal	North America, Europe and Asia	Carnivore	pack
Red fox	Mammal	The whole northern hemisphere	Omnivore	skulk
Arctic fox	Mammal	Tundra of the far north	Omnivore
Brown bear	Mammal	North America, Europe and Asia	Omnivore	sloth
Polar bear	Mammal	Arctic sea ice	Carnivore
Giant panda	Mammal	Mountain forests of central China	Herbivore
Raccoon	Mammal	North America	Omnivore	gaze
Sea otter	Mammal	North Pacific coasts	Carnivore	raft
European badger	Mammal	Europe and western Asia	Omnivore	cete
Wolverine	Mammal	Northern forests and tundra	Omnivore
African bush elephant	Mammal	Sub-Saharan Africa	Herbivore	herd
Asian elephant	Mammal	South and Southeast Asia	Herbivore	herd
Giraffe	Mammal	Sub-Saharan Africa	Herbivore	tower
Plains zebra	Mammal	Eastern and southern Africa	Herbivore	dazzle
Hippopotamus	Mammal	Rivers and lakes of Sub-Saharan Africa	Herbivore	bloat
White rhinoceros	Mammal	Southern Africa	Herbivore	crash
Warthog	Mammal	Grassland across Sub-Saharan Africa	Omnivore	sounder
Blue wildebeest	Mammal	Eastern and southern Africa	Herbivore
Impala	Mammal	Eastern and southern Africa	Herbivore
Moose	Mammal	Northern forests of North America and Eurasia	Herbivore
Reindeer	Mammal	Arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America	Herbivore	herd
American bison	Mammal	Grassland of North America	Herbivore
Dromedary camel	Mammal	North Africa, the Middle East, feral in Australia	Herbivore	caravan
Llama	Mammal	The Andes of South America	Herbivore
Red kangaroo	Mammal	Inland Australia	Herbivore	mob
Koala	Mammal	Eucalypt forests of eastern Australia	Herbivore
Wombat	Mammal	Southeastern Australia	Herbivore
Platypus	Mammal	Rivers of eastern Australia	Carnivore
Chimpanzee	Mammal	Forests of central and West Africa	Omnivore	troop
Western gorilla	Mammal	Forests of central Africa	Herbivore	band
Orangutan	Mammal	Borneo and Sumatra	Omnivore
Ring-tailed lemur	Mammal	Southern Madagascar	Omnivore	conspiracy
Three-toed sloth	Mammal	Forests of Central and South America	Herbivore
Nine-banded armadillo	Mammal	The Americas, from Argentina to the southern USA	Omnivore
Giant anteater	Mammal	Central and South America	Insectivore
Meerkat	Mammal	Deserts of southern Africa	Omnivore	mob
European hedgehog	Mammal	Western and northern Europe	Insectivore	array
Common pipistrelle	Mammal	Europe, North Africa and western Asia	Insectivore	colony
Blue whale	Mammal	Every ocean	Filter feeder	pod
Humpback whale	Mammal	Every ocean	Filter feeder	pod
Orca	Mammal	Every ocean	Carnivore	pod
Bottlenose dolphin	Mammal	Warm and temperate seas worldwide	Carnivore	pod
Harbour seal	Mammal	Coasts of the North Atlantic and North Pacific	Carnivore	colony
Walrus	Mammal	Arctic seas	Carnivore	huddle
West Indian manatee	Mammal	Coasts and rivers of the Caribbean and Florida	Herbivore
North American beaver	Mammal	Rivers and lakes of North America	Herbivore	colony
North American porcupine	Mammal	Forests of North America	Herbivore	prickle
Eastern grey squirrel	Mammal	Eastern North America, introduced to Britain	Omnivore	scurry
Brown hare	Mammal	Europe and western Asia	Herbivore	husk
European rabbit	Mammal	Iberia originally, now much of the world	Herbivore	colony
House mouse	Mammal	Everywhere people live	Omnivore	mischief
Capybara	Mammal	Wetlands of South America	Herbivore
Bald eagle	Bird	North America	Carnivore	convocation
Golden eagle	Bird	North America, Europe, Asia and North Africa	Carnivore	convocation
Peregrine falcon	Bird	Every continent except Antarctica	Carnivore	cast
Barn owl	Bird	Every continent except Antarctica	Carnivore	parliament
Snowy owl	Bird	Arctic tundra	Carnivore	parliament
Emperor penguin	Bird	Antarctica	Carnivore	colony
Ostrich	Bird	Sub-Saharan Africa	Omnivore
Emu	Bird	Australia	Omnivore
Kiwi	Bird	New Zealand	Omnivore
Greater flamingo	Bird	Africa, southern Europe and South Asia	Filter feeder	flamboyance
Great white pelican	Bird	Africa, southeastern Europe and Asia	Carnivore	squadron
Wandering albatross	Bird	The Southern Ocean	Carnivore
Atlantic puffin	Bird	Coasts of the North Atlantic	Carnivore	circus
Mute swan	Bird	Europe and Asia, introduced to North America	Herbivore	bevy
Mallard	Bird	The northern hemisphere, introduced widely	Omnivore	paddling
Canada goose	Bird	North America, introduced to Europe	Herbivore	gaggle
Grey heron	Bird	Europe, Asia and Africa	Carnivore	siege
Common kingfisher	Bird	Europe, Asia and North Africa	Carnivore
Ruby-throated hummingbird	Bird	Eastern North America, wintering in Central America	Nectar and insects	charm
Great spotted woodpecker	Bird	Europe and northern Asia	Insectivore	descent
Toco toucan	Bird	Central and eastern South America	Omnivore
Scarlet macaw	Bird	Central and South America	Herbivore
Sulphur-crested cockatoo	Bird	Australia and New Guinea	Herbivore
Indian peafowl	Bird	The Indian subcontinent	Omnivore	ostentation
Common raven	Bird	The whole northern hemisphere	Omnivore	unkindness
Carrion crow	Bird	Western Europe and eastern Asia	Omnivore	murder
Eurasian magpie	Bird	Europe and Asia	Omnivore	parliament
European robin	Bird	Europe and western Asia	Insectivore
House sparrow	Bird	Native to Eurasia, now on every inhabited continent	Omnivore	host
Barn swallow	Bird	Every continent except Antarctica	Insectivore	flight
Common starling	Bird	Native to Eurasia, introduced worldwide	Omnivore	murmuration
Griffon vulture	Bird	Southern Europe, North Africa and Asia	Scavenger	kettle
Greater roadrunner	Bird	The southwestern USA and Mexico	Carnivore
Secretary bird	Bird	Grassland of Sub-Saharan Africa	Carnivore
Nile crocodile	Reptile	Rivers and lakes across Africa	Carnivore	bask
Saltwater crocodile	Reptile	Coasts from India to northern Australia	Carnivore	bask
American alligator	Reptile	The southeastern USA	Carnivore	congregation
Komodo dragon	Reptile	A few islands in Indonesia	Carnivore
Green iguana	Reptile	Central and South America	Herbivore
Panther chameleon	Reptile	Northern and eastern Madagascar	Insectivore
Leopard gecko	Reptile	Deserts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India	Insectivore
King cobra	Reptile	Forests of South and Southeast Asia	Carnivore	quiver
Black mamba	Reptile	Sub-Saharan Africa	Carnivore
Reticulated python	Reptile	South and Southeast Asia	Carnivore
Green anaconda	Reptile	Wetlands of northern South America	Carnivore
Western diamondback rattlesnake	Reptile	The southwestern USA and Mexico	Carnivore	rhumba
Galapagos tortoise	Reptile	The Galapagos Islands	Herbivore	creep
Green sea turtle	Reptile	Tropical and subtropical seas worldwide	Herbivore	bale
American bullfrog	Amphibian	Eastern North America, introduced widely	Carnivore	army
Golden poison frog	Amphibian	Rainforest on the Pacific coast of Colombia	Insectivore
Axolotl	Amphibian	Two lakes near Mexico City, almost gone in the wild	Carnivore
Fire salamander	Amphibian	Forests of central and southern Europe	Insectivore
Common toad	Amphibian	Europe, western Asia and North Africa	Insectivore	knot
Great white shark	Fish	Cool coastal seas worldwide	Carnivore	shiver
Whale shark	Fish	Warm seas worldwide	Filter feeder	shiver
Great hammerhead	Fish	Warm coastal seas worldwide	Carnivore	shiver
Giant manta ray	Fish	Tropical and subtropical oceans	Filter feeder
Atlantic salmon	Fish	The North Atlantic and the rivers that feed it	Carnivore	run
Clownfish	Fish	Coral reefs of the Indian and Pacific Oceans	Omnivore	school
Seahorse	Fish	Shallow tropical and temperate seas	Carnivore
Anglerfish	Fish	The deep ocean	Carnivore
Swordfish	Fish	Warm and temperate oceans	Carnivore
Atlantic bluefin tuna	Fish	The Atlantic and the Mediterranean	Carnivore	school
Red-bellied piranha	Fish	Rivers of South America	Omnivore	shoal
Electric eel	Fish	The Amazon and Orinoco basins	Carnivore
Common carp	Fish	Native to Eurasia, introduced almost everywhere	Omnivore	school
Giant Pacific octopus	Invertebrate	The northern Pacific	Carnivore
Common cuttlefish	Invertebrate	The eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean	Carnivore
Giant squid	Invertebrate	Deep water in every ocean	Carnivore
American lobster	Invertebrate	The northwestern Atlantic	Omnivore
Coconut crab	Invertebrate	Islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans	Omnivore
Moon jellyfish	Invertebrate	Coastal seas worldwide	Carnivore	smack
Common starfish	Invertebrate	The northeastern Atlantic	Carnivore
Western honey bee	Invertebrate	Native to Europe, Africa and western Asia, kept worldwide	Nectar and pollen	swarm
Buff-tailed bumblebee	Invertebrate	Europe and North Africa	Nectar and pollen
Monarch butterfly	Invertebrate	North America, with introduced populations elsewhere	Nectar	kaleidoscope
Emperor dragonfly	Invertebrate	Europe, Africa and western Asia	Carnivore
European mantis	Invertebrate	Southern Europe, Asia and Africa	Carnivore
Leafcutter ant	Invertebrate	Central and South America	Herbivore	colony
Mexican red-knee tarantula	Invertebrate	The Pacific coast of Mexico	Carnivore
Emperor scorpion	Invertebrate	West African rainforest	Carnivore
Garden snail	Invertebrate	Native to the Mediterranean, now worldwide	Herbivore	rout
Common earthworm	Invertebrate	Native to Europe, now on every continent but Antarctica	Detritivore

Ranges are natural ranges, with introduced populations noted where they are large enough to matter. Diet is what the animal mainly eats, not a complete account — most carnivores will take carrion and most omnivores lean one way by season.

How this list was built

Every entry is a real species, and the list is deliberately mixed. A random animal list made only of lions, tigers and pandas is no use to anyone: this one runs from the blue whale to the earthworm, and roughly two thirds of it is animals that are not mammals — because roughly none of the animal kingdom is.

We name the species, not the vague group. “Bear” is not an animal; brown bear and polar bear are, and they live in different places and eat differently. Where a common name covers several species, the entry says which one — plains zebra, African bush elephant, three-toed sloth.

The group-name column is blank more often than most lists admit. Many collective nouns — a murder of crows, an unkindness of ravens, a parliament of owls — come from fifteenth-century English hunting books and were partly literary invention even then. They are genuinely used, so they are here. But there is no traditional term for a group of jaguars or a group of orangutans, and inventing one would be making things up, so that cell is left empty.

No conservation status column. Statuses change as populations are reassessed, and a page that lists them is out of date the moment it is published without anyone noticing. Where a species is in real trouble the entry says so in plain words in its range — the axolotl is down to two lakes — rather than carrying a code that rots.

Sources. Species names, classes and ranges follow standard zoological reference works. Collective nouns are the established English terms where one exists; where none does, the column is left blank rather than filled with a modern coinage presented as tradition.

Common questions

How many animals does this pick from?

There are 143 species on the list, covering mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. All of them are shown in the table on this page, so you can see exactly what can come up.

Can I get the same animal twice?

Not while the no-repeats box is ticked — the generator works through the list without repeating until every animal has come up. Untick it if you want each press to be independent.

Why are some group names blank?

Because no established term exists for that animal. Many collective nouns are genuine English usage going back centuries, but plenty of the ones circulating online were invented recently. We list the real ones and leave the rest empty.

Is this good for a class or a drawing prompt?

That is what most people use it for. Because each pick comes with the habitat and diet, a drawing or a short write-up has something to work from beyond the name.

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