a young camel for a young ostrich, and a fully grown camel for a fully grown one, because this achieves true equivalence.

For a wild donkey, wild cow, elk, thaytal, and ibex: a cow; for a hyena: a ram; for a gazelle: a she-goat; for a hyrax and a spiny-tailed lizard: a young male goat; and for a jerboa: a young female goat, …

His statement, “For a wild donkey, wild cow, elk, thaytal, and ibex: a cow,” means that the wild donkey is a well-known game animal. It is called a donkey because of its resemblance to the domestic donkey, and the sacrificial animal resembling it is a cow. Likewise, for a wild cow there is a cow; for an elk there is also a cow—the elk being a type of gazelle; for a thaytal, which is a type of gazelle, there is a cow; and for an ibex there is a cow. It states in al-Qāmūs: “Waʿl, pronounced with the wāw vowelled with fatḥah, and the ʿayn with fatḥah, kasrah, or sukūn, is the mountain goat.” (1) Thus, a cow is due for these animals because it resembles them.

His statement, “For a hyena: a ram.” The hyena is well known, and the Prophet ﷺ prescribed a sheep for it (2). Had it not been lawful to eat, it would have had no compensatory value.