The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word GUANACO
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
G
U
A
N
A
C
O
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Animal" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case animal = guanaco.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does GUANACO mean?
GUANACO noun- A South American ruminant (Lama guanicoe), closely related to the other lamoids, the alpaca, llama, and vicuña in the family Camelidae.