Row about German animal (5)
I believe the answer is:
tiger
'animal' is the definition.
(tiger is a type of animal)
'row about german' is the wordplay.
'row' becomes 'tier' (a tier is a row of things).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'german' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'tier' enclosing 'g' is 'TIGER'.
(Other definitions for tiger that I've seen before include "Formidable competitor" , "Carnivorous large cat" , "he got his stripes" , "fierce animal" , "Fierce Bengal beast" .)