Africa

The pygmy hippopotamus spends the day in water, and emerges when they are hungry and will feed on fruits, leaves, roots and grasses.

Each zebra has a unique stripe pattern that can be recognised by other family members!

The ostrich is the only bird to have just 2 toes, one of which has a formidable 10 cm long claw!

The Crowned cranes are recognisable from the stiff, golden feathers which is on the top of their head.

It is the only crocodilian species known for being able to climb as high as several metres into the limbs of trees fallen along streams.

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!

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.

The gelada baboons are the last surviving species of grass-grazing primates, spending ,most of their time on the ground and rarely climbing trees.

The dik-dik is one of the smallest members of the antelope family measuring a maximum of 45cm high.

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.

Vultures have bald heads to stop them getting dirty whilst eating!

Griffons can consume more than 3 pounds of meat in 4 to 5 minutes.

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.

Barbary macaques have seat bones and have calluses on their bottoms.

It's not a coincidence that Barbary macaques sleep while sitting upright.

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’.

The African spurred tortoise gets its name from the two or three large spurs on its legs. It is the largest mainland tortoise, reaching shell lengths of up to 88cm! These tortoises have very thick skin to help prevent them from losing too much moisture. This is important in such a hot, dry climate.

Hundreds of African white-backed vultures gather to feed. They gorge themselves so much they cannot fly and then rest with wings spread and their backs facing the sun.

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!

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 name Aardvark means ‘earth pig’. Their burrow can be over 13 metres long, with many chambers and entrances!

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.

The lion has been characterised as fearsome, courageous and majestic, the lion’s strength and ferocity has earned it the title of ‘King of the Beasts’ in many cultures.

The cheetah is the fastest land mammal on the planet, reaching speeds of up to 87 kilometres per hour.

Why not learn more about the cheetahs at their encounter?

The chimpanzee is one of our closet living relatives and is estimated to share 98 percent of our genes!

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.

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.

Red-bellied lemurs are cathemeral, which means they may be active during the day or night.

Our small group of red-bellied Lemurs can be seen in the Lost Madagascar exhibit, foraging for food and sunbathing!

We have a successful breeding group of Ring-tailed Lemurs that are part of an EEP breeding programme.

Male ring-tailed lemurs compete for females via ‘stink fights’, smearing scent on their tails and wafting the smell towards their opponent.

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.

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.

We have a group of warthogs living within their enclosure at Edge of Africa.

The warthog gets its name from the warts on its face and these warts help to protect the face and eyes from an opponent's tusks when fighting.