ASD child terror of animals and the unusual

Hi there folks, my daughter is 5. She has level 2 & 3 ASD surrounding repetitive behaviours and social interactions specifically. She also has a diagnosed developmental delay, so her speech is moderately to acutely delayed in many areas (though constantly developing and improving), making communication difficult at times.

Now, since as soon as she was old enough to perceive what animals or faces were she has been terrified of animals. And like, even her grandfather, (who is of a different ethnicity) initially terrified her purely on how he looked. To this day she is mortified of animals, and cannot be in the same room as any animal at all. No past trauma, no negative interactions with animals in any way.

Has anyone else had this problem before? Or is this simply a phobia unrelated to ASD?