Location Map

Penguin World with Humboldt’s penguins
Lying below a rocky outcrop is a large deep pool with a pebbly beach and stream, representing the terrain that these hardy little birds would experience in the wild.  Underwater windows provide thrilling and entertaining views of the penguins as they 'fly' underwater.  They seem to enjoy coming face to face with human beings and will gather in a playful way by the windows.  The eider ducks parade past as well!  This is one place you might have to drag the children away from so that you can see the rest of the zoo! The penguins are fed in the afternoon and this is always a great occasion when the birds gather on the beach, eagerly waiting for the keeper who knows the penguins individually!  They all have names and they are full of character.

Humboldt’s penguins

Humboldt’s penguins

Sable Antelope
A large antelope, darkly coloured with distinctive black and white head markings. General colour glossy black with pure white under parts. The heavily ridged horns sweep backwards in a striking curve. The female is similar to the male, but paler and tinged chestnut, with smaller, less curved horns. Calves are fawn coloured with indistinct facial markings.

Congo Buffalo
Reddish coloured buffalo. Up to 1.3 metres tall and 320kg. Large head and limbs, broad chest, large drooping ears fringed by soft hairs. Horns spread outward, upwards and backwards.

Sable Antelope

Gemsbok
The gemsbok inhabits dry plains and semi-desert, although it is sometimes found in savannah and woodland. It is a gregarious antelope living in herds of up to 40 animals, and sometimes aggregating in hundreds. Old bulls may lead a solitary life. Gemsbok feed mainly on grasses, but also eat fruits, especially wild melons and cucumbers, and the bulbs of succulents. This diet enables them to withstand long periods of drought, and although they drink when water is available, it is said that they can survive indefinitely without drinking.

Amur leopard
The Amur leopard has a long, thick coat. The coat is a light straw yellow in the winter and darker in the summer. There are large areas of white on the underside of the body. Spots are large, black rosettes that may form solid rings.

Grevy’s Zebras
Striped horse-like animal. The Grevy’s Zebra is the largest of the 3 zebra species It has long legs and a long face; it is easily recognised by its large ears. They have very uniformed black and white stripes over its body, head and the legs. They have white bellies with a black ventral stripe and also a black dorsal stripe with a white margin that gets wider towards the rump.

Gemsbok & a Grevy’s Zebra

Marwell Hall

Laughing kookaburra
Kookaburras are tree kingfishers living in forests, parks and gardens. Unlike the common kingfisher, which tends to be solitary, kookaburras have a complex social system with pairs maintaining a territory throughout the year. Some of the young remain with their parents to help raise next year's brood. The breeding season occurs from September to January and nests are made in termite nests or holes in trees. A small clutch of round white eggs is laid and both parents incubate them. The helpers meanwhile defend the territory and once the young have hatched they help search for food.

Golden-headed lion tamarin
Golden-headed lion tamarins live mainly in primary tropical forests, but are also sometimes found in secondary forests. They are active during the day, sleeping at night in tree holes, or occasionally in vines or plants that grow on the trees. They live in family groups of 2 – 8 and eat mainly insects and fruit, but will also take spiders, snails, small lizards, birds’ eggs and small birds.

Golden-headed lion tamarin

Golden-headed lion tamarin

Snow leopard
Because the snow leopard lives in such inaccessible places the size of the wild population is very difficult to estimate, but could be as low as 600. These are distributed over a vast area including parts of Mongolia, USSR, China, Bhutan, N. India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan. Numbers are few and are restricted to the higher colder regions above the forests, where permanent snow is found.

Cheetah

Warthog
Warthogs are usually diurnal. They spend the night in dens consisting of holes in the ground, often using abandoned aardvark holes. They also retreat to the den to escape predators, and to rear their young.

Giraffe
Because of their great height, giraffes, which are ruminants (they chew the cud), are able to browse the uppermost branches of trees. Thus they face little competition from other herbivores. Their great height also gives them the advantage of seeing predators from a distance. They have few enemies beside humans.

Giraffe

Giraffe

Giraffe

Dorcas Gazelles
This is the smallest of the gazelles, but proportionally has the longest legs. The horns are generally lyre shaped (out then in at the tips). The fur is light fawn with poorly differentiated flank stripes. There are light and dark streaks down the face. The name gazelle has come to suggest grace and beauty, for all species are dainty, alert and graceful.

Amur tiger
Head, body, tail and limbs have a series of narrow, black, grey or brown stripes. On the sides the stripes are vertical. Prominent white spots on the ears are used for communication. The Amur tiger is the largest of all the cats. A male Amur tiger can weigh up to 300kgs. Other tiger races are smaller.

Amur tiger

Amur tiger

Red panda
Black under parts. White face with dark stripes from each eye to the corner of the mouth. White ears and long bushy ringed tail.
The red panda, sometimes known as the lesser or common panda, is the closest relative of the well-known giant panda.

Ostrich
The largest living bird, the male weighs more than 150kg and stands almost 3 metres high. The reduced wings are useless for flying. The head is short and flat with a deeply cleft beak. The long neck, like the head, is covered with small degenerate feathers giving a naked appearance. The long, un-feathered legs are particularly muscular. The oval grey-white or ivory eggs are the largest of any living bird, equivalent to 25 hen’s eggs and weighing 1.5kg.

Ostrich

White rhinoceros
White rhinos tend to be more sociable than their black relatives, they can be seen in family groups of 2 - 5 animals or in parties of up to 10. They are also more even-tempered than the black rhino, being fairly approachable except during the mating season. White rhinos have very good hearing and sense of smell.

White rhinoceros

White rhinoceros

Snow leopard

Great grey owl
Most birds have a crop - a small sac of skin inside the throat used for storing food. Owls are unusual in that they are the only birds that do not have a crop. They are carnivores and eat all parts of their prey. Anything that cannot be digested, such as bones and fur, is regurgitated in the form of a pellet. This pellet can be dissected to reveal what the owl last had to eat.

Great grey owl

Great grey owl