Want to impress whilst on a safari game drive? Here’s the perfect list to brush up your knowledge of collective nouns for animals you might see. (Not sure what a ‘collective noun’ is? Easy, it’s simply the name for a group of one particular type of animal.)
Names for collective groups of animals are thought to date from The Book of Saint Albans, published in 1486 by Dame Juliana Berners, where many of the words used for animal groups were chosen purely for the humorous images they conjure up, or the alliteration.
Whilst some names for animals are general and can be used for any subject – swarm, herd, etc. – many other animal group names are specific to just a single animal type. Everyone knows that a group of lions is called a pride… but did you know that a group of rhinos is a called ‘crash’ or a ‘stubbornness’? How about the collective noun for elephants? (Herd, or memory.)
There are some more real gems of names for groups of many safari animals below, so have a read and let us know what you think:
Collective names for mammals of Africa
| Animal | Collective Noun/Group Name |
| Antelopes | Herd |
| Apes | Shrewdness, Troop |
| Asses | Pace, Herd, Drove |
| Baboons | Troop, Flange |
| Bats | Colony, Cloud |
| Buffalo | Herd, Troop, Gang, Obstinacy |
| Camels | Caravan, Train, Flock |
| Cheetahs | Coalition |
| Cobras | Quiver |
| Dolphins | Pod, School |
| Elephants | Herd, Memory |
| Fox | Leash, Skulk, Earth, Lead, Troop |
| Giraffes | Tower |
| Gorillas | Band, Troop |
| Hippopotamuses | Bloat |
| Hyenas | Cackle, Clan |
| Impalas | Herd |
| Leopards | Leap |
| Lions | Pride, Sault, Troop |
| Monkeys | Troop, Barrel, Carload, Cartload, Tribe |
| Otters | Romp, Bevy, Family, Raft |
| Oxen | Team, Yoke, Drove |
| Porcupines | Prickle |
| Pigs | Drift, Drove |
| Rhinoceroses | Crash, Stubbornness |
| Seals | Pod, Bob, Harem, Herd, Rookery |
| Springbok | Herd |
| Squirrels | Dray, Scurry |
| Walruses | Herd, Pod |
| Whales | Pod, Gam, Herd, School, Mod |
| Wild Boars | Singular, Sounder |
| Wild Dogs | Pack |
| Wild Horses | Herd |
| Zebras | Zeal, Crossing, Dazzle, Cohorts, Herd |
A tower of giraffes standing in the savannah grass
Collective names for amphibians and reptiles of Africa
| Animal | Collective Noun/Group Name |
| Frogs | Army, Colony, Knot |
| Lizards | Lounge |
| Snakes | Den, Nest, Pit, Bed, Knot |
| Toads | Knot, Knab, Nest |
| Vipers | Generation, Nest |
A nest of snakes (African pythons to be exact!)
Collective names for arachnids and insects of Africa
| Animal | Collective Noun/Group Name |
| Bees | Grist, Hive |
| Cockroaches | Intrusion |
| Gnats | Cloud, Horde, Swarm |
| Grasshoppers | Cloud |
| Hornets | Nest, Bike |
| Locusts | Plague |
| Midges | Bite |
| Mosquitoes | Scourge |
| Scorpions | Bed, Nest |
| Spiders | Cluster, Clutter |
| Termites | Colony, Nest, Swarm, Brood |
| Wasps | Nest, Swarm |
A plague of locusts mid-flight
Collective names for sea life of Africa
| Animal | Collective Noun/Group Name |
| Eels | Swarm, Bed, Fry |
| Jellyfish | Smack, Brood |
| Sharks | Shiver, School, Shoal |
| Turtles | Bale, Nest, Turn, Dole |
A shiver of sharks off the South African cost
We’ve scoured the internet high and wide to bring you this collection of collective animal nouns, but no doubt there are many more group names out there we’ve missed. If you know of any others – or indeed have an idea for a new name for a group of animals – please join in using the comments below!
Like this list of animal names? If yes, perhaps you’d like a look at our article on the collective nouns for birds in Africa.
what is the collective noun of deer
Either a “herd” or “parcel”