Animal from hard currency area (5)
I believe the answer is:
hyena
'animal' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'hard currency area' is the wordplay.
'hard' becomes 'h'.
'currency' becomes 'yen' (Japanese currency).
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'h'+'yen'+'a'='HYENA'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for hyena that I've seen before include "one to laugh" , "Wild mammal" , "Carnivore with sloping body" , "Laughing mammal?" , "he's a laugh" .)