The Best African Tale of Collective Nouns for Animals.

We in Africa love to tell stories, whether they be fables passed down from one generation to the next, bedside tales, or Old Wive’s Tales. Some of the exotic collective nouns used to refer to the cherished animals that live in Africa are also favorites of ours.

In light of this, we used a few of our favorites to create a short tale.

A Story from Africa

Beneath an old, massive umbrella thorn tree, the King and his lions sat in silence. The summer sun was still high in the sky, and they were being lazy in the late afternoon. In the vivid blue, a kettle of vultures circled. There must have been a death.

A couple of leopards hung languidly on the tree’s branches above, seeing their larger brethren dozing below.

Way across the savannah plain, the troop and the leap saw, through drooping eyelids, a zeal of zebra mixed with the stubbornness of buffalo. The King thought, “lunch,” and flicked his tail, but he was far too drowsy to do anything more.

A group of crocodiles also relaxed on the riverbanks until the African sun became too hot for their backs, at which point they all fell into the chilly water, only their eyes visible above.

Elephants watched their offspring splashing and splooshing a bit further downstream, their infant trunks still clumsy. The youthful exuberance of the elephant kids disrupted the midday siesta of the hippo bloat, which was floating and rumbling in the middle of the stream.

A flamboyance of narcissistic flamingos preened and prancing in the shallows, flattering each other while ignoring everything save their very attractive pink reflections. But as a tower of giraffes walked clumsily toward them, they fluffed up their tail feathers. What about those long legs? No rivalry for a flamingo. And they stooped to drink, looking so ungraceful! The giraffes paid no attention while the flamingos giggled.

A parliament of owls silently swooped from their perches as the sun sank over the African bush and dusk gave way to night, searching for a bed of scorpions, a nest of snakes, a lounge of lizards, or a mischievous mouse. Supper! A group of meerkats swiftly glanced up and fled for cover.

A crash of rhinos went slowly across the plains to the sounds of a cackle of laughing hyenas, while a sickle moon and a galaxy of stars guarded the bush. In the silence of the baobab trees, a murder of crows flew uneasily from their nightly resting place.

When the lion and his band roared, drowning out the cricket orchestra, the husk of Riverine Rabbits shook.