Animal | Birmingham Zoo

Sumatran Orangutan

These primates are diurnal and arboreal. They spend most the day searching for and consuming food and they rarely descend to the ground. They even drink water collected in tree holes rather than search for it on ground.

Red Panda

The red panda is crepuscular, most active at dusk and dawn. The diet of the red panda is very low calorie. To compensate for this, they spend a large portion of their time eating and have very slow metabolic rates.

Ostrich

Ostriches can tolerate a wide range of extreme temperatures. Their legs can only kick forward , with their acute hearing and eyesight, they can sense their predator from a very far distance. Ostriches are farmed around the world, particularly only for it’s feathers; which are very much so decorative and are commonly used for feather dusters.

North American River Otter

River otters’ ears and nostrils can be closed when in water contributing to their excellent swimming and diving skills. When they dive, their pulse rate slows considerably to 170 beats a minute allowing the otter to conserve oxygen.

Kori Bustard

Bustards have no crop, but their powerful gizzard, long “blind gut” (cecum) and their habit of taking up quantities of grit assist the digestion of the food they consume. Bustards have lost both the hind toe and the preen gland that most other birds possess.

Great Horned Owl

Great horned owls may be active during the day or night, but are mostly nocturnal. During the day they only cover about 1 square mile, so it is rare to spot them in daylight.

Grant’s Zebra

Although hunted by hyenas, hunting dogs, leopards and cheetah, the lion is the most prevalent predator of the zebra. When a group is attacked, the individuals will gather close together assisting one another in defense. They fight hard by kicking and biting. A single strong kick can be deadly to a predator. If a zebra is able to escape a predator in the first 100 yards of the attack, it is usually safe from harm.

Reticulated Giraffe

Unlike many hoofed animals, giraffes can see in color. They have very keen vision and hearing. They have 7 neck vertebrae, and oversized lungs compensate for the volume of dead air in the trachea.