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 African Wild Mammal Collective Names and Name Origins

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