“Schmetterling” & More Animal Names In German

Blog
28 June 2023
By Sarah Angela Almaden
Japanese House
Unsplash: Neenu Vimalkumar

I spy with my little curious eye… seven brightly-colored fluttering lil things in the garden right by the blooming pink and purple wildflowers. What are these precious things called? They are called butterflies and they like to flitter around plants with good nectar sources in the sun. Legend has it that to befriend some beautiful butterflies, all you need to do is plant a variety of shrubs and colorful flowering plants. And, hopefully, soon, these dancing creatures will start flocking into that backyard habitat in no time. Also, avoid pesticides. In case you didn’t know, butterflies don’t like insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and more of that harmful chemical stuff because they are harmful and toxic to pollinators.

Where else can you spot more of these wonderful butterflies? At the zoo, of course! You can certainly see a great collection of butterflies at the zoo. No doubt about it. You can also see many more kinds of animals at the zoo. Lions. Giraffes. Penguins. Chimpanzees. Seals. The list is just endless. And if ever you’re in Germany, you must take a tour of one of their 919 zoos, per the German zoo database. Zoos in Germany are unique and special and they house thousands of diverse animals as well as a variety of plant species for people to see. Wonder what some of these animals are called in German? Let’s have a look!

  • pig: Schwein (schvine)
  • chicken: Huhn (hun)
  • dog: Hund (hoont)
  • cat: Katze (katse)
  • ant: Ameise (ah-mai-zeh)
  • dolphin: Delfin (delfin)
  • elephant: Elefant (ehlehfant)
  • shark: Hai (hi)
  • whale: Wal (val)
  • horse: Pferd (fert)
  • duck: Ente (enteh)
  • lion: Löwe (loohveh)
  • giraffe: Giraffe (girafeh)
  • panda: Panda (panda)
  • zebra: Zebra (zebra)
  • koala: Koala (koala)
  • sheep: Schaf (shaf)
  • otter: Otter (ohtah)
  • squirrel: Eichhörnchen (aick-horn-khen)
  • snake: Schlange (shlang-nguh)
  • frog: Frosch (frosh)
  • fox: Fuchs (fuks)
  • polar bear: Eisbär (icebar)
  • goat: Ziege (zeeguh)
  • rabbit: Kaninchen (kahneenchen)
  • kangaroo: Känguru (kanguruh)
  • shrimp: Garnele (garnehleh)
  • butterfly: Schmetterling (shmehterling)
  • eel: Aal (ahl)
  • bee: Biene (beeneh)
  • camel: Kamel (kahmel)
  • flamingo: Flamingo (flamingo)
  • octopus: Oktopus (oktopus)
  • toucan: Tukan (tuhkan)
  • swan: Schwan (shvan)
  • alligator: Alligator (aligahtor)
  • tarantula: Vogelspinne (fogelspihnuh)
  • dragonfly: Libelle (lihbeluh)