Random Animal Generator

Spin the random animal generator

Press Spin and the wheel lands on one of 212 animals, from a red panda to a luna moth. The result also tells you the animal’s group, such as Reptiles or Invertebrates. This random animal generator is handy for drawing practice, report topics, guessing games and story prompts. The animals are already loaded, so there is nothing to type. It is free and runs in your browser.

How to use the animal wheel

1. Open the Options tab and choose which animal groups to include. All six are checked at first.
2. Press Spin, click the wheel, or press Ctrl + Enter.
3. The dialog shows “Your animal is”, the name, and the group underneath.
4. Press Done, Remove it to take that animal off the wheel, or Spin again.

The six animal groups

The animals are sorted by biological class:

• Mammals (59): lions, koalas, sea otters, blue whales and more.
• Birds (40)
• Reptiles (25)
• Amphibians (21)
• Fish (31)
• Invertebrates (36): insects, crabs, clams and other animals without a backbone, such as the nautilus and the stick insect.

Uncheck a chip to drop that group. Keep only Amphibians and Reptiles for a lesson on cold blooded animals, or only Fish for an ocean theme. If you uncheck every chip, the wheel is empty and will not spin.

Reading the labels

With all six groups on the wheel there are 212 slices, which is too many to print names on most screens. The pick still works and the result shows the name clearly. To see names on the slices, filter down to one or two groups.

Ideas for a random animal

Drawing practice

Spin once and draw what you get. Artists who want a challenge can stick to invertebrates, where a cuttlefish or a horseshoe crab is a good test of shapes.

Classroom research topics

Turn on “Remove each winner automatically” in Settings. Each student spins in turn and gets a different animal for a report or a poster. The Results tab keeps a numbered list of who got what, and you can copy it.

Guess the animal

One player spins without showing the screen, then gives clues or acts the animal out. The rest of the group guesses. Mystery mode in Settings hides every label so nobody can peek at the wheel.

Story starters

Spin two animals and write a short story where they meet. A gorilla and a hedgehog make an odd and funny pair.

Pet or mascot names

Spin for an animal, then build a team mascot or a character around it.

Fair picks

Each spin is decided by your browser’s cryptographic random generator before the wheel moves. Every animal still on the wheel has the same chance, whatever its group size. If you keep all groups on, mammals come up more often only because there are more of them.

Related tools

For a full sketch idea, try the what to draw generator. To act animals out at a party, the charades generator includes animals in its easy list.