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Parasites can be bacteria (e.g. malaria), fungi (athlete's foot fungus), or animals (parasitic worms). All viruses are also parasites because they cannot reproduce on their own and must rely on a host cell to provide the material and chemical reactions necessary for them to replicate themselves. In general, a parasite is an organism that cannot survive on its own, and must rely on a host organism to survive and/or reproduce. Parasitism also differs from other forms of symbiotic relationships, such as commensalism and mutualism in that the parasite benefits at the expense of the host, and the host is harmed in the process.

The cuckoo, for example, is called a brood parasite, because it places its own eggs into the nest of other birds and rely on the host bird to raise its young. The cuckoo benefits, but the host bird is harmed, because the cuckoo's young may throw the host's young out of the nest.

A parasite can be anything, a bacteria all the way to an animal. So there are some types of parasites that are animals. But a parasite is just an organism that benefits from the harming of it's host. Cogito is 100% wrong though. I could think of several animal parasites off the top of my head (wasps, tapeworms, flies). An argument can even be made that humans are parasites.

The rough classification difference of living things is between animals, plants, fungi, protozoans, bacteria and archeans (ancient bacteria), although the details are still in a state of flux, as they have been for most of the past couple centuries. Tapeworms are animals, and that takes priority over "parasite". Think of animal, plant, etc. as the organism's kind, and parasite, predator, etc. as the organism's job.

Its not an animal, no. Parasites are typically defined as anything that takes advantage of another without giving anything back. Like some peoples uncles. Unlike a symbiote, which gives and gets and is often time of mutual benefit to the host. Parasites come in many forms, none of them animal. Im no expert though, I could be wrong. Parasites are bacteria and fungi and the like.