Animal of a novel kind (3)

I believe the answer is:

elk

'animal' is the definition.
(I have seen 'American animal ' mean 'elk' so perhaps 'animal' could also mean 'elk')

'of a novel kind' is the wordplay.
'of' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'ELK' can be found hidden inside 'novel kind'.

(Other definitions for elk that I've seen before include "Fraternal American" , "Largest living deer" , "Asian moose" , "Big beast" , "Large deer of N Europe and Asia" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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