A Group of Hyraxes is Called...

What is a Group of Hyraxes Called?

A group of crows is a Murder, a group of lions is a Pride, and a group of humans is crazy enough to come up with these wacky incongruent names. Leopards are a leap. Owls? Fuck it, they’re a parliament. But what about hyraxes? What’s a group of hyraxes called?

@PablotheHyrax argued that they should be named a “Lumprax,” while others may have referred to them as colonies or herds in the past. @Hyraxhub took a different approach. They surveyed a subset of their 279,000 followers to see what they might think.

A few fun names emerged! A Huddle of hyraxes? Maybe a threat or hyraxes? A murder? Even @PablotheHyrax himself chimed in with Lumprax.

+

Results

x

Results

Here are the results from the poll in question:

1,293 Votes

WAWA (59%)

Colony (15%)

Lumprax (19%)

Hyraxes (7%)

Results from Instagram on Mar 6, 2025

The overwhelming winner of the poll is… a “Wawa” of hyraxes. You read that right. Wawa!

Since “wawa” is already a nickname for bush hyraxes, based on their unique screams, it seems these feisty little animals named themselves in a true Pokémon fashion.

+

Alternate Name For a Wawa of Hyraxes

x

Alternate Name For a Wawa of Hyraxes

One commenter, @juicyphoture, even suggested that we take this to the next level: “wawawa…,” with each “wa” signifying another hyrax in the wawa. Naturally this demands a mathematical function to properly map out hyrax etymology:

f (x) = “wa” \times x

Meaning that f(5) = “wawawawawa” and f(2) = “wawa.” It’s an inarguably fun concept, but it crumbles under the weight of the fact that a hyrax wawa could be made up of 50-80 members. The practicality of saying “wawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa” might make it less viable outside of impersonating a computer crash.

“Have you seen the ‘wawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa’ on that rock over there?”

“Wow, that sure is a lovely wawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa”

*Another wawa joins the wawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa*

“Look! Another one just joined that wawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa!”

“What are you talking about? Do you mean the wawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa?”
Hypothetical excerpt.

Instead, we should simply call it a “Wawa,” regardless of the multitudes of wawas involved.

Jokes aside, the poll reinforces a term that is already prevalent in internet culture around these animals. Check any comment section for a rock hyrax or yellow spotted rock hyrax and you will see countless people calling them “wawas”. Just as hyraxes evolved to look far different than their elephant and manatee cousins, their naming conventions also evolved in strange ways. Perhaps the name of their group is just another oddity about our favorite fanged potatoes.

So, what should you call a group of Hyraxes?

A group of Hyraxes is called a “Wawa of Hyraxes!“

+