Animal names in Urdu for kids (with pictures and audio)

Animals are often a child’s favourite first Urdu words: billi (cat), kutta (dog), gaay (cow), haathi (elephant) and sher (lion) are easy to say and easy to point at. Tap any picture to hear it.

Animals at home and on the farm

• بلیBilliCat
• کتاKuttaDog
• گائےGaayCowHear it in the app
• بکریBakriGoatHear it in the app
• گھوڑاGhoraHorseHear it in the app
• مرغیMurghiChickenHear it in the app
• بطخBatakhDuckHear it in the app
• خرگوشKhargoshRabbitHear it in the app

Animals at the zoo and outside

• ہاتھیHathiElephantHear it in the app
• شیرSherLionHear it in the app
• بندرBandarMonkeyHear it in the app
• بھالوBhaluBearHear it in the app
• چڑیاChiryaBirdHear it in the app
• طوطاTotaParrotHear it in the app
• مچھلیMachhliFishHear it in the app

“Where is it?”: the one sentence that does the most

• بلی کہاں ہے؟Billi kahan hai?Where is the cat?Hear it in the app
• کتا کہاں ہے؟Kutta kahan hai?Where is the dog?Hear it in the app

Billi kahan hai? بلی کہاں ہے؟ (Where is the cat?) turns any picture book, toy box or walk in the park into Urdu practice. Ask it, wait, and let your child point. Then swap: your child asks and you find it. Changing the animal is all it takes: Kutta kahan hai? کتا کہاں ہے؟.

Three ways to practise

1. Picture book hunt. Open any animal book and ask … kahan hai? for each page.
2. Toy parade. Line up toy animals. Your child names each one as it walks past.
3. Out and about. Name every animal you see on the way to school: a chirya on the fence, a billi on the wall.

When your child gets a word wrong or answers in English, just say the Urdu word back warmly and move on. Children learn more from hearing it again than from being corrected.

Where these come from

The animal words come from Bulbul, the iPhone and iPad app we make to help children speak Urdu. In the app, children hear an animal, find it among the pictures and say it out loud. Try a few with audio on our Urdu words page.