my @animals = ( "bear<1>\n", "camel<0> <2>\n", "<2>horse\n", "duck<3>\n" );
my @changeTo = ( 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D' );
my @toFind = ( '<0>', '<1>', '<2>', '<3>' );


@hs{@toFind}= (@changeTo);

foreach $anm (@animals)
{
$anm =~ s/$_/$hs{$_}/g, for(keys %hs);
print "$anm";
}