southern Sudan and southern Ethiopia, south along eastern Africa, as far as Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi, before spreading into most southern African countries.
Status:
Near Threatened
Quick Fact:
Each zebra has a unique stripe pattern that can be recognised by other family members!
L'hoest monkeys have a white ruff that frames the face with distinctive deep set orange eyes. Their bodies are black and have long legs which are grizzled with grey. They have a chestnut coloured “saddle” at the base of their back.
Cameroon sheep have short, fine hair which allows them to keep cool in the African heat. These sheep have tan and black markings.
Pygmy goats are great climbers, browsing on leaves and young branches in the trees.
Boer goats have tan and white markings, and are our biggest species in the walkthrough. Their name is derived from the Afrikaans word ‘boer’, meaning farmer.
The Somali fat-tailed sheep are mostly white in colour, with a black face. This sheep was originally bred for the fat reserves in its tail, which were use in Medieval cooking!
Originated in South America but now widespread throughout the world
Status:
Not listed
Quick Fact:
Llamas are sometimes put in with flocks of sheep because they will scare off any predators.
When a llama is afraid and cornered, it will lay its ears back against its head,
make a clucking noise and spit stomach acid at whatever is scaring it!
A fully grown fennec fox only weighs around 1kg and they are the smallest of all the foxes.
The fennec fox's unusually large ears, which can be up to 15cm long, are an adaptation to help them lose heat in the hot desert and to help locate their prey.
This pig, which is sometimes referred to as the 'Plum Pudding' or 'Oxford Forest Pig', is one of the oldest British pig breeds, having existed for around 200 - 300 years.
They are believed to have originated in the Oxfordshire region, but can now be found all over the UK.
This pig is hardy and particularly suited to living outside, as they are good foragers, and their black and tan markings help to protect them from the sun.
Binturongs mark their territory by leaving a musky substance that smells like popcorn! They are also known as the bear cat and is a member of the civet family.
The blue duiker gets its name from the bluish hairs on its back. Duiker is a Dutch Afrikaans word, meaning to dive, referring to the duiker’s tendency to dive into dense cover when startled.
These lemurs get their names from the ‘crown’ marking above their eye line. The male lemur is a brown colour with grey underparts and a black crown, while the female is grey with cream underparts and an orange crown.
They are diurnal and from sunrise can often be seen on rocks, basking in the sun.
Whilst the group is foraging or basking, an adult individual stands guard over the group. If the sentry spots danger, then it gives out an alarm call and the rock hyrax run and hide in the crevices in the rocks.
The rock hyrax resembles a guinea pig with short ears and a tail. Often called the ‘rock rabbit’ or ‘dassie’.
While guinea pigs are not related to pigs they do have similar traits – their “Wheek!Wheek!” sounds for example are like pig squeals. They also have a similar body shape to pigs with a large heads, stubby necks and a round body. They also love to eat just like their larger namesakes!
With their 45-centimetre prehensile, black tongue the giraffe can eat up to 134 kilograms of leaves a day! We have a group of pure-bred reticulated giraffes, all females.
Don't miss the daily feed times where you can get the unique opportunity to hand feed the giraffes yourself!
Mammals
Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum)
Near Threatened and listed on Apppendix I of CITES
Quick Fact:
The white rhinoceros is the largest of the five rhinoceros’ species and one of the world’s biggest land animals. We have a group of five White Rhinos; three females and two males. Our group of Rhinos are part of the ESB breeding programme
Colchester Zoo's charity, Action for the Wild supports rhino conservation in South Africa raising funds for the equipment need to protect both white and black rhinos.
The largest recorded African elephant weighed an impressive ten tonnes! The African elephant’s brain is bigger than that of any other animal, with the skull making up 25% of its body weight.
Canada, Eastern Russia, and parts of the US and Europe.
Status:
Least concern and listed on Appendix II of CITES, except for populations from Bhutan, Nepal, India and Pakistan, which are listed on Appendix I.
Quick Fact:
The grey wolf is the largest wild canid, or member of the 'dog' family. Grey wolves are social animals and the ancestor of all domestic dogs. In the wild they live in packs of 5–10 individuals and have a highly organised social structure.
The lion-tailed macaque's name comes from its long tail, which has a tassel at the end like that of a lion. They are one of the smallest and most endangered of the macaque species of monkey.
The mandrill is not only the largest monkey in the world, but it is also one of the most distinctive, with their extremely striking face, with a red stripe down the nose and blue flanges framing it.
Our mandrill troop at Colchester Zoo have a very successful breeding record, with offspring born yearly.
The word 'orangutan' comes from the Malay words ‘Orang Hutan’ which means ‘Man of the Forest’.
Bornean orangutans were once widespread throughout Southeast Asia, but their expansive range has decreased dramatically due to illegal logging and habitat destruction.
Our breeding pair of red pandas are housed in an open air enclosure with a number of different platforms and plenty of space for them to climb and explore. The enclosure has plenty of bamboo for our individuals to enjoy, as this makes up 95% of their diet in the wild. Bamboo is highly nutritious and red pandas may spend up to 13 hours foraging for this food source as well as consuming 200,000 bamboo leaves a day.
West and central sub Saharan Africa to northern South Africa and Madagascar.
Status:
Least concern
Quick Fact:
Instantly recognisable for its bright rufous fur, the red river hog is undoubtedly the most strikingly coloured of all wild pigs
We have a group of red river hogs here at Colchester Zoo. These wild species of pig are also known as bushpigs. They have a bristly coat, which can vary from reddish to greyish-brown, and they have a white mane running down their backs. They also have 2 overgrown teeth which protrude out of their mouths as tusks.
Southern Africa including Angola, Namibia and South Africa
Status:
Least concern
Quick Fact:
Meerkats communicate by using a variety of calls to signal certain situations such as being lost, alarm calls, pup feeding calls, guarding calls and foraging calls.
Found throughout sub-Saharan Africa with the exception of the Congo rainforests and the far south
Status:
Least concern
Encounter:
15:00
Quick Fact:
We have had previous successful births with our spotted hyena and hope to be able to help maintain the population of this species within the captive environment.
South-eastern Asia, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo
Status:
Vulnerable and listed on Appendix I of CITES
Quick Fact:
The sun bear, also known as the dog bear or honey bear, after its love of honey, is the smallest of the eight bear species. It is black with a golden crescent marking on its chest which, in ancient Eastern folklore, represents the sun.
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