Omaha Zoo, Omaha, Nebraska


Cotton Top Tamarin (Saquinus oedipus) - Northwest Colombia.

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) - Western United States, Canada, Florida and Central America to Southern America. The Burrowing Owl is small and seen in open country. This owl has distinctive white eyebrows, a black stripe area on the neck and rather long legs for an owl. The eyes are yellow. These owls are only about 9 1/2 inches tall.. The adult is boldly spotted and barred. The forehead is low and they have a short, stubby tail. When agitated, the owl will bob and bow. About 10 feet from the entrance, the owl builds the nest with grass, feathers and dried dung. The eggs are white and take about 4 weeks to be incubated. Both parents take care of the eggs and the raising of the chicks.

Klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) - East Africa from the red sea hills to the tip of South Africa. The horns average four inches long and curve slightly forward. They have an olive-yellow coat with brown small streaks intermingled in the coat. The hairs of the coat are air filled (hollow) shafts which give it excellent insulation. They leap and bound easily over rocky terrain. The Klipspringer can go a while without water, getting the moisture from the plants they eat.

Caracal (Felis caaracal) are from Africa. The ear tassels, ear backs and lips are black with black mark on each cheek. Their closest relative are the Lynx and the Bobcat.

Double-Wattled Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) live in tropical rainforest. They have a unique horned, helmet-like casque that is held forward while they run, breaking through thick vegetation. They leap off the ground and kick with their strong legs when needing protecting. They can run up to 30 miles an hour.

Common Peafowl or Peacock (Pavo cristatus) - Indian sub-continent, including Sri-Lanka. The Peacock will feed in open clearings. The diet consists of seeds, fruit and other plants. The male's long and beautiful train is not his tail, but an ornament, composed of over a hundred large feathers growing from his back. The real tail is hidden under the train. Both of male and female and young have small fan-shaped crowns on the head. The male displays the train in a spectacular fan.

Ostrich ( Struthio camelus) - Africa - Two ostrich having a good laugh at the tourists. To make up for their inability to fly, these birds can reach tremendous speeds up to 40 miles an hour. The Ostrich egg is the largest egg about eight inches long and weights approximately three pounds. Twenty four chicken eggs together would make up one Ostrich egg.

The Hanuman Langur (Semnopithecus entellus) - Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. This is a long-limbed monkey with a black face with a tawny mane-like hair around the head. They are revered by the Hindus. The long tail makes a upwards hook They can be heard "whooping" it up.

Male Lion (Panthera leo) - Africa, Northwest India. The Lion is usually a tawny-yellow, but the color can vary from whitish to blackish with shades of ochre. This mammal is the most social of the "Big Cats". The group is called a pride. Only the male has the beautifully majestic mane. The hunting is done mainly at night, but is also active during dawn and dusk. Males usually let the females do most of the hunting.

Leopard (Panthera pardus) - Africa south of the Sahara and Southern Asia. Their coats are yellow-ochre with black spots grouped in rosettes. The backs of the ears are black with a white patch. If they are completely black they are called a black panther. Spots can still be seen, even on the black Leopard. The Leopard hangs out in trees or a resting spot and usually hunts at night being nocturnal. They will often drag their prey up into a tree.

American Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) - North America. Both these eagles are definitely majestic species.

White Stork live in East Europe, West and South Asia, migrating to Africa, India and South Asia. Their nest is large made of sticks high in a tree or building.

Spotted-Neck Otter (Lutra maculicollis) - Southern Africa. The otter is chocolate to reddish-brown in color, with blotches of white or creamy-white markings on their throat and chest. The blotch marks are unique to each otter. They weight 10 to 12 lbs and are 25 to 30 inches long. The hunting is done at dawn or dusk, catching fish and crustaceans in rivers, lakes or swamps. They also will eat frogs, crabs and clams. The Otter spends a great deal of their time in the water playing or hunting for food. They have excellent underwater vision.

Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) - Chile. The Chilean Flamingo 's bill is half black with the rest being an ivory color. The legs are a grayish-blue and red on the knee cap and red feet. Scarlet-pink are on the chest and streaks on the upper back - mostly pink all over. They feed in shallow water areas and saline lakes.

These Chinese Tiger Cubs were born on December 23, 2003.

Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa) (Also known as French Partridge) - South Western Europe in France and Iberia. This Partridge has red legs and a red bill. The flanks are boldly striped with black and white The chest is a buff to gray. The face is white with a black mask. They lay the eggs in a ground nest. The red-legged Partridge is normally a ground bird, but when necessary, will fly a short distance to avoid danger.

The Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is the only canine that hibernate. They are found in Northern Vietnam and main Islands of Japan. Also found in China and central Europe.

There is always a surprise in the nursery such as this baby jaguar born May 10, 2006.

This Lar Gibbon Monkey ( Hylobates lar) - South Burma, Malaysia, Thailand and Sumatra in the forest. The Lar Gibbons can be blondish-red or black. The face is black with a white or pale outline. The tops of the hand and feet are white. They do not have a tail They are the fastest moving of all the primates. The long limbs allow them to practically fly from branch to branch in the treetops.

"Black Panther" Jaguar (Panthera onca) - The black cat is not one particular wild cat, but could be either a Jaguar or a Leopard with Melanistic coloration (black fur). A black cub can be born along with other cubs with the traditional coloring. This is a Jaguar. Jaguar are native to America - South America in Argentina.

Siberian White Tiger (Panthera tigris) - Manchuria and Siberia. The Siberia is the largest of the tigers. A white cub can be be born in the same litter as the common yellow tigers. This is an agile animal and a good swimmer.

Sandhill Crane - They breed in the Artic, migrating through South-Central Nebraska and other south-western states along the Platte River Valley The Platt River stretching about 80 miles. They come in huge numbers, feeding in the corn fields by day and returning to roost as dusk falls on the Platte River sandbars. Twenty Thousand (20,000) to Fifty Thousand (50,000) will rise in the air if threatened by an eagle or other predator . Just before dawn they start moving around and the sound of all those cranes is amazingly loud. They winter in Mexico, Texas and New Mexico. In early March when they head north is when this spectacular sight can be seen. Then in pairs they rise in the air heading for those corn fields.

In the wild, these Sandhill Cranes are eating the left-over corn in the field.

The Sandhill Cranes use the Platt River to roost on at night.

Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) - Florida, around the Gulf of Mexico and the Southwest. They like Mangrove swamps and are about 2 1/2 feet tall. The legs are pink with dark feet. Young are white with yellow bill and legs. The Spoonbill have an elaborate courtship with the clapping of bills and flying display. The spoon shaped bill moves backwards and forwards in shallow water to catch fish, aquatic vertebrates and small crustaceans.

Jaguar (Panthera onca) - Southern United States, North and Central South America This is the only "Big Cat" found in the Americas. On the coat of tawny-yellow, there are rosettes with one or two black spots in the middle. The head, neck, legs and underbelly have black spots. The Jaguar is an excellent swimmer and lives in watery areas such as swamps .

Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) - Sumatra and Borneo. The arms are twice the length of the Orangutan's body. The reddish rust coat is long and soft. The limbs joints allow more flexibility and range of movement than any other ape. Most of the time the Orangutan spends time in the trees. When on the ground, they walk on the knuckles or near the knuckles of the hand referred to as "knuckle walking", The Orangutan eats a diet of mainly fruit, but will eat leaves, shoots, flowers and bark.

Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) - Africa south of the equator.

Pigmy Hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon liberiensis) - Guinea to Nigeria. Only the front toes are webbed unlike the large Hippos where all four feet are webbed. This smaller Hippo stays on land more and grazes at night.

Matschie's Tree-Kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei) - Australia

Baby Snow Leopards were in the nursery. They are adorable.

Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) - Africa in the rain forest. This is a very intelligent primate which lives a peaceful life when left alone. The male Gorilla gets the silver back after about 9 or 10 years. They have relatively small ears and eyes for such a large head. Walking on the ground, the body of the Gorilla rests on the front knuckle, or near the knuckle called "knuckle walking".

This Gorilla was King of the Mountain for sure. When an intruder comes near, the silverback will charge forward as a warning, even beating his chest, but do not usually try to hurt the intruder. The face of the Gorilla can be as different as human faces is different. The average weight of the male Gorilla is 340 lbs.

The White Rhinoceros is a total vegetarian. The word rhinoceros comes from two Greek works - "nose" (rhino), and "horn" (ceros). Rhinos often take on the color of the ground where they live The skin of both the Black and the White Rhino is a bland gray instead of the skin actually being "white" or "black". They love to wallow in the mud and might even appear a rusty color.

Two Toed Sloth (Choloepus didactylus) - Northern South America. The Sloth is slow and deliberate with two long hooked claws on the front feet and three claws on the back feet. The eyes are small and have a black ring around them. The bristly brown-gray coat is great camouflage for the sloth as they hang upside down on branches or curled in the fork of a tree, very seldom coming down to the ground. The ears are also small and usually hidden under the fur, and the tail is just a stump. The front legs are a bit longer than the back legs. The body temperature of the sloth is very low, maybe the lowest of all mammals.

Sumatran Orangutan



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