• The nature and characteristics of the fauna in any area is largely hinged on factors such as climate, topography, and the nature of the soil and the extent of human exploitation of the vegetation of the area. The fauna of Zazzau is typical of the savannah belt with its abundant grasses for grazing animals, which attracted predators and cattle rearers into the region. It also harbours a wide range of animals such as large mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and numerous insects. These influenced human activities in the area.
• The common fauna found around Zazzau includes horses (dawakai), camels(rakuma), sheep (tumaki), donkeys (jakuna), cattle (shanu), goat (awaki), rams (raguna), turkey (talotalo), cat (mage), ducks (agwagi) pigeons (tantabaru), fowls (kaji) and dogs (karnuka). The people of Zazzau were able to domesticate these animals to satisfy their dietary and socio-economic needs. These animals such as donkeys, camels and horses were used as means of transportation and therefore constituted an important source of wealth for their owners, while birds such as ducks, turkeys, pigeons and fowls were important source of proteins. The hide and skin of animals like sheep, cattle and goats were used for several purposes such as whips, bridles, sandals, ropes, throngs and straps, while their bones were incinerated to produce alli (white chalk) which was used for cotton spinning and facial decorations.
• Predators such as Zaki (pathera loe) lion, giwa (laxodoute Africa) elephant, damisa (pathera pardus) leopard, Argeni (Acconyx jubetus) cheetah, mugun dawa (phacocoerus aethopicus) warth hog, rakumin daji (Girrafe canelopardalis) giraffe, Jan alhanzir (potamocherus purcus) red river hogs, Gwanki (hippotragus Ezuinus) Antelope, Bauna (syncerus caffer) African Buffalo, Mariri (Dryx Dammah) horned oryz, Barewa (Gazzella Raffi froms) were in existence in the Zaria area but are now extinct due to the heavy exploitation of the vegetation of the area.
• A number of other wild animals could also be observed. These included Gwaggo (primates) Baboon, chimpanzee (lepas glodytes), Juda (vivers civet), Kurege (Anomokus), Bushiya (Catueix Abirenhide) hedgehogs, Zomo (Lepus) African hare. These were found around the inselbergs of Kufena and Dumbi.
• Hyenas were also found in great numbers in the Zaria area, which in the past used to roam into the city at night for pry. There is a pond inside Zaria known as akushin Kura that literally means the bowl of hyena around Madaka ward. It is said that hyenas used to assemble there in large numbers in the past to prey on dead animals thrown in the pond. They also preyed on men and animals. Hyenas and monkeys were used for display in market places and wherever people congregated during important occasions. Some people practiced this as an occupation. The people of Zaria were effective hunters and trappers of these predators because of their values as discussed above. The skin of animals such as lions and leopards were used for medicine. Ivory was obtained from the tusk of elephants and constituted a significant item for long distant trade. The horns of some of the animals were used as musical instruments (kaho) by musicians.
• One of the most striking features of the area was its abundance of variety of lizards such as Agawa (kutu), chameleon (hawainiya). Snakes (macizai) were very rare and out of the 100 snakes type in Nigeria only the savannah species are found in the Zaria area. The venomous snakes are the cobra and viper families. The cobra (Gamsheka) have hollow front fangs through which they can inject small quantities of concentrated fast acting venom which attack the nervous system to cause paralysis or heart failure. Other types of snakes included carpet viper (kububuwa or gajera). Vipers generally inject venom, which attack the blood cells and body tissues causing internal bleeding and tissue bleeding. Also available was the puff adder (kasa). Snake charmers who wrapped them up round their necks or put them in baskets for display collected these different types of snakes. These provided an occupation to some members of the community.
• The Zaria region was blessed with a number of birds, which numbered up to 370 species. This included about 225 species, which could be seen throughout the year with many local and long distance migrants at particular seasons. The typical birds of the Zaria area were weaverbirds, (kanari), owl (mujiya), eagle (mikiya), parrot (Aku), vultures (angulu), cattle egrate (belbela) and hawks (shirwa). Birds were among the food resources that were available to the earliest inhabitant of Zaria.
• The environment of Zaria also provides habitats for other small creatures such as insects. The most notorious of these was the tsetse fly, which was rampant since the earliest period in the history of the Kingdom. Their presence may have influenced the movement and settlement of people in the area, as people tended to avoid settlement by riverbanks where the tsetse flies predominated. A contributing factor to the defeat of the Jukun invasion of the area of Zaria was associated with the plague caused by the tsetse flies. Butterflies, (malam bude littafi) on the other hand were relatively harmless and commonest insects. A wide variety of Butterflies exist which included papilio and catepiller. Also a lot of grass hopers were common and many of them were agricultural pests chewing almost every plant. They were also used as supplementary source of protein for the people. Other pests like the termites (isoptera) gara are destructive causing great havoc to stored grains. There were also a number of insects that caused health problems. These included cockroaches (kyankyaso), common flies (kuda), Beatle (gungura kashi), mosquitoes (sauro), tumbu flies and ticks (kaska). Spiders, millipedes, centipedes and scorpions were also found in Zaria. They belong to phylum arthropoda family group. Their numerous legs distinguish them from others. While spiders cause skin diseases, scorpions can cause death. There were several species of scorpions in Zaria area with the small brown species that has the strongest venom as the most dangerous. In addition to these insects there were also bees that provided honey which were used in various kinds of drinks and for medicinal purposes. The silkworm (Bombyx mori) tsutsan tsamiya was also common in Zaria. It was of economic significance because it provided fibres that were used in the manufacture of expensive clothes popularly known as rigar tsamiya as mentioned earlier on. The significance of abundance of games to the people of Zaria was that it provided the basis for the great hunting tradition of the Zaria people. The role of hunting in the location and relocation of settlements and their boundaries was clearly highlighted by O. Temple.
• Hunting plays a major role among those factors which combine to establish and define a territory. When a village is settled the surroundings are explored by these hunters and their expedition: as they blaze the trees to mark their return outline the new domain.
• The oral tradition of the people of Zaria strongly supported the above assertion. It has shown that races of giant hunters like Danzau, Madara and Bono founded early settlements in the Zaria area such as Kufena, Madarkachi as well as areas around the Fadamar Bono within the Birni.
• The fauna of Zaria is also important in understanding the cosmology, religion and other social practices of the people. For instance myth, proverbs and fables were developed around the behaviour of some of the animals, which were interpreted in terms of human emotions such as joy, beauty, goodness, sadness, greed, trust, mischief, mockery, and delight. Lions were regarded as strong, majestic and brave while antelopes embodied beauty, grace, swiftness and the epitome of beautiful woman. Elephant was portrayed as fat glutton and stupid. Hyena was considered dirty, while baboon was perceived as childish, ugly, forceful, and imitative. These featured prominently in the fables and tales of the Zazzagawa people.