Animals

1. کتا

   kutta

   Dog

   Usage

   Used for pets and street dogs alike. If you are bitten, rabies treatment is needed — show this at a clinic at once

2. آوارہ کتا

   aawara kutta

   Stray dog

   Usage

   Present in every town and often in packs at night. Use it to ask your host whether a street has strays

3. بلی

   billi

   Cat

   Usage

   For the cat at your guesthouse or a shop. Cats are considered clean in Islamic tradition and are often kept fondly at shopfronts

4. گائے

   gaay

   Cow

   Usage

   In Pakistan it is livestock and beef is eaten, but in Urdu-speaking parts of India the cow is sacred to Hindus and slaughter is banned in many states. If you travel across the border, do not raise beef or leather casually — and never chase or hit a cow in the road

5. بھینس

   bhains

   Water buffalo

   Usage

   The black, back-curved-horn animal. Most milk in Karachi and Lahore is buffalo milk, and it is named separately from the cow

6. بکری

   bakri

   Goat

   Usage

   A common sight in villages and towns. Meat sold as "mutton" is usually goat

7. بھیڑ

   bher

   Sheep

   Usage

   You meet flocks in the mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan and Hunza. Also useful when shopping for a wool shawl

8. اونٹ

   oont

   Camel

   Usage

   You can ride one in Sindh and the Cholistan desert, and there are tourist camels on the Karachi beaches

9. گھوڑا

   ghora

   Horse

   Usage

   Rides are offered at hill forts and mountain resorts. Agree the price before you get on

10. گدھا

    gadha

    Donkey

    Usage

    Used as a pack animal even in towns. Applied to a person it means "idiot", so keep it to the animal

11. مرغی

    murghi

    Chicken

    Usage

    Covers the live bird and the meat. At markets the bird is normally butchered in front of the customer

12. بطخ

    batakh

    Duck

    Usage

    Seen around town ponds and canals. Rarely appears as food

13. ہاتھی

    haathi

    Elephant

    Usage

    In Pakistan you will mostly see one only at a zoo, but in Urdu-speaking parts of India they appear at temples and festivals

14. بندر

    bandar

    Monkey

    Usage

    Common in the Margalla hills and on Swat mountain roads. They snatch food and sunglasses — avoid eye contact and keep bags closed

15. شیر

    sher

    Tiger / Lion

    Usage

    Urdu uses one word for both tiger and lion; context decides. Say "babbar sher" if you specifically mean a lion. A leopard is a separate word, "cheeta"

16. سانپ

    saanp

    Snake

    Usage

    Met in fields and long grass. If bitten, say "saanp ne kaata" and get to a hospital immediately

17. کوبرا

    kobra

    Cobra

    Usage

    Venomous. Use the word when asking a hospital whether antivenom is stocked

18. چھپکلی

    chhipkali

    House gecko

    Usage

    Lives on guesthouse walls and ceilings. Harmless and eats mosquitoes, but handy for saying one is in your room

19. چوہا

    chooha

    Rat / Mouse

    Usage

    Seen at stations and markets. Spotting one in your room is a fair reason to ask for a change

20. مچھر

    machchhar

    Mosquito

    Usage

    Carries dengue, which has seasonal outbreaks in Karachi and Lahore. The key word for asking a guesthouse for a net or a plug-in repellent

21. لال بیگ

    laal beg

    Cockroach

    Usage

    The reason you give when asking to change rooms. The borrowed "kakroch" is also understood

22. مکھی

    makkhi

    Fly

    Usage

    Unavoidable at street stalls and markets — a useful cue for deciding which stall to skip

23. چیونٹی

    cheonti

    Ant

    Usage

    A trail will find any open snack packet in your room — keep food sealed

24. شہد کی مکھی

    shehad ki makkhi

    Bee

    Usage

    Literally "honey fly". If you are allergic to stings, show this word at a clinic

25. مکڑی

    makri

    Spider

    Usage

    Common in the corners of budget rooms. Nearly all are harmless, but it works as a reason to ask for a clean-up

26. پرندہ

    parinda

    Bird

    Usage

    The general word for birds — used for birdwatching and at the bird markets

27. کوا

    kawwa

    Crow

    Usage

    In every town and after your rooftop food. Urdu poetry casts it as the sly one

28. مچھلی

    machhli

    Fish

    Usage

    Covers the animal and the food. Fried fish is a Lahore winter speciality

29. مینڈک

    mendak

    Frog

    Usage

    They start up all at once in the monsoon, and sometimes hop into guesthouse courtyards

30. کچھوا

    kachhua

    Turtle

    Usage

    Protected along the Indus and on the Karachi coast

31. مگرمچھ

    magarmachh

    Crocodile

    Usage

    Lives in the Sindh wetlands and the lower Indus. Use it when checking whether a riverbank is safe to swim

32. خرگوش

    khargosh

    Rabbit

    Usage

    Comes up with children or at the zoo. You will rarely meet a wild one in town

33. چمگادڑ

    chamgaadar

    Bat

    Usage

    Large fruit bats leave the town trees at dusk, and you meet them inside ruins and forts

34. گلہری

    gilehri

    Squirrel

    Usage

    The striped palm squirrel is in every park, and it is not especially shy of people

35. مور

    mor

    Peacock

    Usage

    On rooftops and in fields across rural Sindh, and a recurring motif in Mughal decoration

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