Animals

1. Alika

   Dog

   Usage

   Everywhere in towns and villages — a bite needs rabies treatment

2. Saka

   Cat

   Usage

   Common in homes and markets

3. Vorona

   Bird

   Usage

   Madagascar is full of endemic birds and a birding destination

4. Trondro

   Fish

   Usage

   Covers river fish and sea fish alike

5. Omby

   Zebu

   Usage

   The humped cattle at the centre of Malagasy wealth and ritual — cars stop for the herds

6. Ondry

   Sheep

   Usage

   Kept in the highlands

7. Osy

   Goat

   Usage

   Common in the arid south

8. Kisoa

   Pig

   Usage

   Pork is "henan-kisoa" — but it is fady, taboo, in some areas, so tread carefully

9. Akoho

   Chicken

   Usage

   The same word is used for the meat

10. Ganagana

    Duck

    Usage

    Kept around rice paddies and ponds

11. Gidro

    Lemur

    Usage

    The general word for Madagascar's endemic lemurs — never feed them

12. Maky

    Ring-tailed lemur

    Usage

    The one with the black-and-white striped tail — seen at Isalo and Berenty in the south

13. Babakoto

    Indri

    Usage

    The largest lemur — you can hear its morning wail in the Andasibe forest. The name means "father of Koto"

14. Aye-aye

    Usage

    The nocturnal lemur that taps trees with a long middle finger — long shunned as an omen of bad luck

15. Fosa

    Fossa

    Usage

    Madagascar's largest carnivore, and the lemurs' predator — seen in forests such as Kirindy

16. Trandraka

    Tenrec

    Usage

    A hedgehog-like endemic — nocturnal, and often seen at forest edges

17. Tanalahy

    Chameleon

    Usage

    About half the world's chameleons live here — you will spot them on roadside branches. Do not handle them

18. Androngo

    Lizard

    Usage

    Common on walls and rocks, and harmless

19. Bibilava

    Snake

    Usage

    Literally "long animal" — Madagascar has no snakes dangerous to humans

20. Voay

    Crocodile

    Usage

    In rivers and lakes — always ask locals before swimming

21. Sokatra

    Tortoise

    Usage

    The endemic southern species is being poached out — never buy one as a souvenir

22. Sahona

    Frog

    Usage

    Hugely diverse here, and noisy at night in the rainy season

23. Voalavo

    Rat / mouse

    Usage

    Grounds for asking to change rooms at a cheap guesthouse

24. Ramanavy

    Bat

    Usage

    Fruit bats fly out in flocks at dusk — do not handle them

25. Moka

    Mosquito

    Usage

    Carries malaria in the lowlands — a net and repellent are essential. Rarer in the highlands

26. Lalitra

    Fly

    Usage

    Useful when asking for a cover over food

27. Vitsika

    Ant

    Usage

    Do not leave food out in your room

28. Renitantely

    Honeybee

    Usage

    Literally "mother of honey" — honey is a classic souvenir

29. Hala

    Spider

    Usage

    Famous for the golden orb weavers — mostly harmless

30. Kalalao

    Cockroach

    Usage

    Show this when asking to change rooms

31. Lolo

    Butterfly

    Usage

    The word also means an ancestral spirit — butterflies are seen as messengers

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