Animals in Chinese with pictures

Animals in Chinese: word list with pictures

60 words · tap 🔊 to hear each one in Chinese.

Picture	English	Chinese	Say it	Listen
	Cow	奶牛	nǎiniú	🔊
	Bull	公牛	gōngniú	🔊
	Buffalo	水牛	shuǐniú	🔊
	Goat	山羊	shānyáng	🔊
	Sheep	绵羊	miányáng	🔊
	Horse	马	mǎ	🔊
	Donkey	驴	lǘ	🔊
	Camel	骆驼	luòtuo	🔊
	Pig	猪	zhū	🔊
	Yak	牦牛	máoniú	🔊
	Dog	小狗	xiǎogǒu	🔊
	Cat	小猫	xiǎomāo	🔊
	Rabbit	兔子	tùzi	🔊
	Hamster	仓鼠	cāngshǔ	🔊
	Mouse	小老鼠	xiǎo lǎoshǔ	🔊
	Elephant	大象	dàxiàng	🔊
	Lion	狮子	shīzi	🔊
	Tiger	老虎	lǎohǔ	🔊
	Leopard	豹子	bàozi	🔊
	Bear	熊	xióng	🔊
	Monkey	猴子	hóuzi	🔊
	Gorilla	大猩猩	dàxīngxing	🔊
	Orangutan	红毛猩猩	hóngmáo xīngxing	🔊
	Deer	鹿	lù	🔊
	Zebra	斑马	bānmǎ	🔊
	Giraffe	长颈鹿	chángjǐnglù	🔊
	Hippo	河马	hémǎ	🔊
	Rhino	犀牛	xīniú	🔊
	Fox	狐狸	húli	🔊
	Wolf	狼	láng	🔊
	Jackal	豺	chái	🔊
	Squirrel	松鼠	sōngshǔ	🔊
	Mongoose	獴	měng	🔊
	Porcupine	豪猪	háozhū	🔊
	Hedgehog	刺猬	cìwei	🔊
	Kangaroo	袋鼠	dàishǔ	🔊
	Koala	考拉	kǎolā	🔊
	Panda	熊猫	xióngmāo	🔊
	Polar Bear	北极熊	běijíxióng	🔊
	Sloth	树懒	shùlǎn	🔊
	Bat	蝙蝠	biānfú	🔊
	Wild Boar	野猪	yězhū	🔊
	Indian Bison	印度野牛	Yìndù yěniú	🔊
	Rat	老鼠	lǎoshǔ	🔊
	Fish	鱼	yú	🔊
	Goldfish	金鱼	jīnyú	🔊
	Frog	青蛙	qīngwā	🔊
	Whale	鲸鱼	jīngyú	🔊
	Dolphin	海豚	hǎitún	🔊
	Shark	鲨鱼	shāyú	🔊
	Octopus	章鱼	zhāngyú	🔊
	Crab	螃蟹	pángxiè	🔊
	Prawn	虾	xiā	🔊
	Squid	鱿鱼	yóuyú	🔊
	Seal	海豹	hǎibào	🔊
	Jellyfish	水母	shuǐmǔ	🔊
	Pufferfish	河豚	hétún	🔊
	Otter	水獭	shuǐtǎ	🔊
	Starfish	海星	hǎixīng	🔊
	Seahorse	海马	hǎimǎ	🔊

Animals in Chinese are a wonderful first topic for young Mandarin learners: every child already loves animals, and many Chinese animal names are little word pictures that make sense once you know one or two characters. This page has 60 animals with pictures, pinyin and clear audio, from farm favourites like 奶牛 (nǎiniú, cow) and 马 (mǎ, horse) to 熊猫 (xióngmāo, panda) and sea animals like 鲸鱼 (jīngyú, whale). Tap a picture to hear it, then play Find it or Memory.

Farm animals and pets in Chinese

Start with the animals your child meets in books and on visits: 奶牛 (cow, literally "milk cow"), 水牛 (shuǐniú, buffalo, "water ox"), 山羊 (shānyáng, goat, "mountain sheep"), 绵羊 (miányáng, sheep, "cotton sheep"), 马 (horse), 驴 (lǘ, donkey) and 猪 (zhū, pig). At home, pets are 小狗 (xiǎogǒu, puppy), 小猫 (xiǎomāo, kitten), 兔子 (tùzi, rabbit) and 金鱼 (jīnyú, goldfish, "gold fish"). Chinese speakers often add 小 (little) to animal names when talking to children, just as English speakers say "doggy".

Wild and zoo animals in Chinese

Zoo animals give you lots of word puzzles. The giraffe is 长颈鹿 (chángjǐnglù, "long-neck deer"), the zebra 斑马 (bānmǎ, "striped horse"), the hippo 河马 (hémǎ, "river horse") and the polar bear 北极熊 (běijíxióng, "North Pole bear"). The kangaroo is 袋鼠 (dàishǔ, "pocket mouse"), which always gets a laugh. Other favourites: 大象 (dàxiàng, elephant), 狮子 (shīzi, lion), 老虎 (lǎohǔ, tiger), 猴子 (hóuzi, monkey), 熊 (xióng, bear) and 树懒 (shùlǎn, sloth, "tree lazy").

Why is the panda a "bear cat"?

熊猫 is made of 熊 (bear) and 猫 (cat). The giant panda lives only in the mountains of south-west China, mainly Sichuan, and is a national treasure. Ask your child which part of a panda looks like a bear and which part looks like a cat.

Sea animals in Chinese: the 鱼 family

Many sea creatures end in 鱼 (yú, fish), even ones that are not fish: 鲸鱼 (whale), 鲨鱼 (shāyú, shark), 章鱼 (zhāngyú, octopus) and 鱿鱼 (yóuyú, squid). Others are named by what they look like: 海马 (hǎimǎ, seahorse, "sea horse"), 海星 (hǎixīng, starfish, "sea star"), 海豚 (hǎitún, dolphin, "sea piglet") and 水母 (shuǐmǔ, jellyfish, "water mother"). Crab is 螃蟹 (pángxiè) and prawn 虾 (xiā). Once your child knows 海 (sea), they can guess many of these names.

The 12 Chinese zodiac animals

Every Chinese New Year belongs to one of twelve animals, in a fixed order. Children love finding their own year animal.

The zodiac year starts at Chinese New Year in January or February, so a child born in early January belongs to the previous animal. Nine of the twelve are in this game (rat, ox as cow, tiger, rabbit, horse, goat, monkey, dog and pig all appear), which makes a fun "find the zodiac" challenge. Tell the story of the Great Race, where the clever rat rode on the ox's back and jumped ahead to win.

Animal sounds in Chinese

Animals "speak" differently in every language. In Mandarin a dog says 汪汪 (wāngwāng), a cat 喵喵 (miāomiāo), a cow 哞 (mōu), a sheep 咩 (miē) and a rooster 喔喔 (wōwō). Try the animal sounds game and then make the Chinese sound for each animal yourselves.

How to teach animal names in Chinese at home

• Age 2-3: choose five animals (dog, cat, cow, horse, fish). Tap, listen, point to toys.
• Age 3-4: play Find it with Golu. Add the Chinese animal sound each time.
• Age 4-5: sort toy animals into farm, zoo and sea, saying each name.
• Age 5-6: play word detective: which names contain 马, 鱼 or 海? Look back at the first Chinese characters to find them.

Say the measure word naturally when you can: 一只猫 (one cat), 一条鱼 (one fish), 一匹马 (one horse). Children absorb these patterns by hearing them, not by rules.

Play for five minutes, then go and find a real animal: a bird in the park, a dog on your street, fish at the market. Real-world practice fixes the word in memory.

Dog, cat, fish: the most asked animal names in Mandarin

If you only have a minute, start here. Dog in Chinese is 狗 (gǒu), and a puppy is 小狗. Cat in Chinese is 猫 (māo). Fish in Chinese is 鱼 (yú), horse in Chinese is 马 (mǎ), tiger in Chinese is 老虎 (lǎohǔ) and elephant in Chinese is 大象 (dàxiàng). For the pronunciation, trust your ears more than the spelling: tap each picture two or three times and copy the tone. The pinyin in the word list above is there to remind you, the grown-up, which way the voice goes.

For heritage and bilingual families

If grandparents speak Mandarin, ask them to name animals in a picture book while your child points; then play the game here to check. For families who use Cantonese or Hokkien at home, many animal characters are the same even though they sound different. The full list with pictures and a sound button is in the word list above, and it prints neatly from your browser as a Chinese animals chart or flash cards. You can also compare the names with animals in Japanese or the English animals name page.

和孩子一起认识动物

很多中文动物名字就像一个小谜语：长颈鹿是“脖子长长的鹿”，斑马是“有条纹的马”，河马是“住在河里的马”，海星是“海里的星星”。和孩子一起猜一猜，为什么熊猫叫“熊猫”？是不是像熊，又有点像猫？

玩游戏的时候，可以学一学动物的叫声：小狗汪汪，小猫喵喵，小鸭嘎嘎。也可以讲一讲十二生肖的故事，找一找孩子自己属什么。每天玩五分钟，再去公园或者市场看看真正的动物，孩子会记得又快又牢。