I defend it as this.
When your not proficient to the animal kingdom, your going to relate to those that you know of. For instance it's a big thing with whiskers, your going to call it a cat, big full of muscles a dog.
That and she has yet to ask him what he is specifically, this battle IS the first time she has ever seen him ya know?
Also I tend to roleplay my 3rd person as though it's from the character's perspective, not mine. So while I know it's a hyena, doesn't mean a Nep Marine is going to be able to tell apart from common animals.
Survival is her specialty, knowing the difference between animals is not.