Note direction of animal (5)
I believe the answer is:
beast
'animal' is the definition.
(I know that animal is a type of animal)
'note direction' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'b' (musical note).
'direction' becomes 'east' (compass direction).
'b'+'east'='BEAST'
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for beast that I've seen before include "Dangerous animal" , "Traditional poet" , "Brute; creature" , "Animal; cruel person" , "Bully" .)