Random Animal Generator

Class

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR

This random animal generator picks one wild animal from a pool of 224 species. Press the button to get its photo, scientific name, class and IUCN Red List status. For the 31 animals we have written about, you also get three facts from our articles and links to read more.

How the random animal generator works

The pool holds 224 animals: 116 mammals, 41 birds, 26 reptiles, 10 amphibians, 17 fish and 14 invertebrates.

Pick a class, or tick “Only animals we have written about” to draw only from the 31 covered animals. Choose 1, 3, 5 or 10 animals at once. The generator does not repeat an animal until every animal in the current group has come up once.

A single result has its own address, so the “Copy link” button gives you a link to that one random animal.

Random animal facts from our articles

Each covered animal shows three facts. Every fact is quoted word for word from one of our published articles, and the article title sits under it so you can read the full piece. We check the claims in our articles against outside sources, as our editorial policy explains.

Where the photos and data come from

Photos come from Wikimedia Commons. Each card credits the photographer, the license and the file page. The photos are under free licenses: CC0, public domain, CC BY or CC BY-SA.

Scientific names, classes and IUCN Red List status come from Wikidata as of 9 October 2026. The pool holds only wild species with an IUCN assessment, so it has no domestic breeds and no extinct species. Animals without our articles link to their English Wikipedia article.

Ways to use a random animal

  • Sketch the animal from its photo, then draw it again from its name alone.
  • Start a class warm-up: each student guesses one fact about the animal before reading it.
  • Play a guessing game: read out the class and the IUCN status, and let the group name the animal.
  • Write a short story from the animal’s point of view, using only what its card shows.

Full list of animals in the generator

This random animal list has every animal the generator can draw, grouped by class. Names link to our tag pages for the 31 covered animals.

Mammals

Birds

  • Barn swallow
  • Black kite
  • Common blackbird
  • Common buzzard
  • Common crane
  • Common kestrel
  • Common kingfisher
  • Common nightingale
  • Common ostrich
  • Common quail
  • Common raven
  • Common starling
  • Eurasian bullfinch
  • Eurasian coot
  • Eurasian eagle-owl
  • Eurasian golden oriole
  • Eurasian hoopoe
  • Eurasian jay
  • Eurasian magpie
  • Eurasian sparrowhawk
  • Eurasian tree sparrow
  • European goldfinch
  • European robin
  • Great cormorant
  • Great tit
  • Grey heron
  • Greylag goose
  • House sparrow
  • Indian peafowl
  • Little grebe
  • Mallard
  • Northern lapwing
  • Northern pintail
  • Osprey
  • Peregrine falcon
  • Rock dove
  • Rook
  • Shoebill
  • Western barn owl
  • White stork
  • White wagtail

Reptiles

  • Adder
  • American alligator
  • Black mamba
  • Boa constrictor
  • Chinese alligator
  • Common slow worm
  • European pond turtle
  • Gharial
  • Gila monster
  • Grass snake
  • Green anaconda
  • Green iguana
  • Green sea turtle
  • Hawksbill sea turtle
  • Indian cobra
  • King cobra
  • Komodo dragon
  • Leatherback sea turtle
  • Loggerhead sea turtle
  • Marine iguana
  • Mugger crocodile
  • Nile crocodile
  • Reticulated python
  • Saltwater crocodile
  • Smooth snake
  • Viviparous lizard

Amphibians

  • Axolotl
  • Common frog
  • Common toad
  • Fire salamander
  • Marsh frog
  • Moor frog
  • Olm
  • Paedophryne amauensis
  • Red-eyed Leaf frog
  • Smooth newt

Fish

  • Basking shark
  • Blue shark
  • Burbot
  • Common carp
  • Common roach
  • Electric eel
  • European eel
  • European seabass
  • Flathead grey mullet
  • Grass carp
  • Guppy
  • Northern pike
  • Ocean sunfish
  • Siamese fighting fish
  • Tench
  • Wels catfish
  • Whale shark

Invertebrates

  • Apollo
  • Coconut crab
  • Common lobster
  • Emperor dragonfly
  • European mantis
  • Helix pomatia
  • Medicinal leech
  • mourning cloak
  • Noble crayfish
  • Norway Lobster
  • Painted Lady
  • red admiral
  • Scarce swallowtail
  • Stag beetle