Ẹmila are used mainly for social functions. Although, they maybe used by some affluent chiefs and the royal palace for ceremonial purposes

The Ẹkpẹn (leopard) is an animal that appears most often among the motifs decorating the Emwin Arhe (royal treasures). The Ẹkpẹn symbolises the valour and strength of the Ọba, as well as his political authority. The Benin people eulogise the Ọba as the ‘ẹkpẹn n'owa’ (leopard of the home).

When a hunter kills a leopard, he must say “ẹkpẹn n'oha” (I killed a bush leopard), as it is taboo to say that a hunter killed a leopard without specifying that it is a bush leopard, as otherwise this would “be tantamount to symbolically killing the king” (Nevadomsky 1988, p. 81). For this reason, leopards of the bush are called Atalakpa to distinguish them from those that represent the Ọba.

A variety of different kinds of Ahianmwẹ (birds) were depicted by artists from the palace guilds on royal artefacts over the centuries. The precise identification and interpretation of these birds, and the meanings attributed to them, vary. Some of the most commonly depicted are the Akala (white-backed vulture), Oɛɣohɔ (vulturine fish eagle), and Esughusughu (owl).

The Akala is usually depicted on top of Osogan, potent staffs kept by priests for the worship of Osun. Its ewawa (beak) is associated with the azen (witches), and the Akala is associated with “death, abandonment, morbidity, and spoils” ( ). The Oɛɣohɔ is known as the “king of the day birds,” and its feathers are often worn by chiefs in their headwear as symbols of respected old age and proper chieftaincy ( ).

Compared to the Ẹkpẹn (leopard), the Eni (elephant) is not as prominent in the visual language of the Emwin Arhe (royal treasures). It is found on two elephant-head pendant masks and as a full figure, with a chief standing on top of it, on some staffs, but more recurrently only as a trunk, either curved or straight, sometimes terminating in a human fist clenching a bunch of leaves. For example, in her PhD thesis, Barbara Blackmun ( ) identified eight different kinds of ‘trunk hand’ motifs on the Aken'ni Elao (carved tusks) alone.

When a chief or important man passes away, it is said in Edo that ‘an elephant has fallen out of society’. Eni are also said to be the ogie (lord) of the animals, and together these associations have led to the interpretation of Eni as symbols of chiefs, possibly even rebel chiefs, in Benin iconography ( ). Based on the qualities of the animals themselves, representations of Eni on the Emwin Arhe (royal treasures) are believed to represent “physical power, leadership, wisdom, and longevity” ( ).