Monkey Business

We have three types of African primate at the Zoo. Old World monkeys, Primitive primates and Great Apes. As you can see, although they are prt of the same family, they each have their own distinctive features.

Primates are considered as our distant cousins. Some of the features we share with them include forward-facing eyes, grasping hands and feet, high intelligence and nails instead of claws.

Western Lowland Gorilla

Found - West Africa and Congo Basin

Threats - Deforestation and hunting. Only 14,000 left in the wild

Features - Arms longer than legs (so able to knuckle walk), extremely intelligent, no tail.

At the Zoo - One male, Jitu, and three females, Njema, Maliki and Kena (arrived in December, 2005 from Barcelona Zoo)

Did you know? - Dominant male gorillas have grey hair down their backs and are referred to as "silverbacks".

De Brazza Monkey

Found - Central Africa in dense, tropical swamp forest

Features - Downward facing nostrils, cheek pouches, non-grip tail for balance

At the Zoo - One male, one female and their offspring, a male who will stay with his parents until about 8 years old and a female born in 2006

Did you know?- Their colourful faces and white bottoms help them see each other through the dense forest.

King Colobus Monkey

Found - Central Africa, along the equator

Threats - They are hunted for skins and food. Their habitat is in grave danger

Features - Downward facing nostrils, cheek pouches, non-grip tail for balance and very small thumbs

At the Zoo - A special diet has been developed, to substitute their favourite tropical leaves which are not readily available

Did you know? - Colobus means mutilated, a reference to their extremely small thumbs.

Ring-tailed Lemur

Found - Madagascar

Threats - Habitat destruction

Features - Advanced sense of smell and longer noses

At the Zoo - Of the three types at the Zoo, the black lemur is the rarest

Did you know? - Lemurs can only be found in Madagascar, where there are no other monkeys. They used to live on mainland Africa, but became extinct due to competition from other species.