I am creating a vocabulary worksheet about the British countryside with its natural and typical features, and I'm stuck on how best to classify the animals living wild in the country.
The list of animals, mostly mammals, include: badgers, beavers, deer, foxes, hedgehogs, owls, rabbits, sparrows, squirrels, etc.
Should I call them:
- Woodland creatures (or animals)
- Forest creatures (or animals)
- Country animals
- Countryside animals
- Animals in the woods/woodland/country/forest
- Wood animals (the least convincing of the lot because it sounds as if the animals are made of wood, but I include this option too)
Or do I simply call these animals wildlife? This would cover all the species, but I feel this is too large a group: I am sure lions, vultures, and crocodiles, to name but three, are also included.
- Wildlife
wildlife
animals, birds, insects, etc. that are wild and live in a natural environment
Best Answer
I can only speak from experience, but as a person who grew up in a similar countryside to the one you describe, 'wildlife' is a perfectly suitable term to refer to wild animals specific to that area.
Perhaps a clearer definition of wildlife is this:
The point being, that when we mention wildlife, we are referring to the wildlife of a specific geographical area. Yes, lions, vultures, and crocodiles are wildlife, but not of that region, and that distinction is implicit.
If you wish to make it absolutely clear, as mentioned in the comments, 'British Wildlife' would be a perfectly acceptable term to use. The British Wildlife Centre uses this term to describe wildlife native to Britain (not to mention, in the name of their organisation).