Animals in Russian: female or male

Unlike English, where the generic animal is always “it”, in Russian language animal character always have a gender.

For example, a wolf is a masculine word so generically referring to a wolf, we say “he”. This has a reflection in the fairytales where characters are clearly masculine or feminine.

For a russian, the gender is defined by the word itself. If it has “a” or “я” in the end then it’s feminine. But it’s a bit hard to choose the right one when you translate from English into Russian. Especially given that gender of national fairitale charecters can be different.

Animal	In Russian	Default gender	The opposite gender	In Russian	Context and use
Fox	Лиса	F	M	Лис	Foreign concept, brought from English fairytales
Cat	Кот, Кошка	M, F	-	-	Both are strong characters, never interchangeable in the fairytales. I’d say кошка sits at home, кот travels around. Cat on the window – кошка на окошке Fishing cat – кот-рыболов. The rest corresponds to the gender of the animal. It’s totally okay to miss from the first try :-)
Wolf	Волк	М	F	Волчица	Волчица is always a wolf-mom, no other use, really
Bear	Медведь	M	F	Медведица Мама-медведица Большая медведица	Медведица is always a bear-mom. Also Ursa major, the constellation
Owl	Сова	F	M	Филин	Despite they are different species, there is no masculine for сова and feminine for филин
Hare	Заяц	M	F	Зайчиха	Зайчиха is always a hare-mom
Elk	Лось	M	F	Лосиха	Female is an elk-mom only
Snail	Улитка	F	-	-	No male version, always “she”
Goose	Гусь	M	F	Гусыня	Female is a goose-mom only
Snake	Змея	F	M	Змей-Горыныч J Змей	Russian mythic 3-head dragon Snake in Eden Clever as a snake
Pig	Свинья	F	M	Свин Кабан	Both male versions are explicitly male, the first implies you are dirty, the second is really “a hog”, which is big and strong.
Dog	Собака	F	M	Пес	You can even say У меня есть собака, мальчик. I have a dog, it’s a boy. Пес definitely indicates it’s a boy, but it’s less common and more “a written word”