See You, Monsoon !
Reach for your raincoats, there's a storm brewing!
Unlike the rainforests, in the monsoon forests, the rain all comes down in one, long, wet season.
In Asia, the monsoon and rainforests feature a massive variety of different animals, from huge Asian elephants to giant stick insects, but they've all got one thing in common. They have all got to get ready for the rain.
Bornean Orang-utan
Found - Borneo
Threats - Deforestation and forest fires. Mothers are often killed so young can be taken as pets.
Features - Long hair, big cheek pouches, long arms like all great apes.
At the Zoo - Victoria is the mother of Cherie and Summer. There are 2 young males, Beau and Ramon, who it is hoped with breed in the future.
Did you know? In the wild, orang-utan males and females live separately. No other primate does this.
Pileated Gibbon
Found - Thailand
Threats - Habitat destruction
Features - No tail, long arms for swinging
At the Zoo - Ivy (female) and Seronimo (male) will probably be mates for life. Aaah!
Did you know? The male is black and the female silver grey. They usually stay with one partner forever.
Asian Elephant
Found - India
At the Zoo - We have four female elephants, Katie, Crumple, Indra and Marcella. They eat 2 bales of hay each every day, and lots of fruit and vegetables. To keep the girls happy and healthy, we have developed a training programme, which gets them to use muscles they would use in the wild. It's keep fit for elephants!
Threats - Habitat destruction and land mines! Mechanisation of forestry has made even the trained elephants redundant.
Did you know? - Just one elephant can weigh up to 3 tonnes and has 100,000 muscles in its trunk. They live in herds with a mature female leading the group. Elephants can live for around 60 years and a pregnancy lasts for 22 months.
Prevost's Tree Squirrel
Found - Malaysia
Threats - Habitat destruction
Did you know? - They make a noise like a creaking gate.
Peacock
Found - India and Sri Lanka
Threats - Hunted for decoration
At the Zoo - Have bred freely in the zoo since it opened.
Jungle Nymph
Found - Malaysia
Did you know? It has spikes on its back for protection.
