NC Zoo: Africa's Animals

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Africa's Animal Exhibits
Watani Grasslands
Red River Hogs
Forest Edge
African Lion
Kitera Forest
Lemur Islands
Forest Glade
Baboons and Eagle

This spacious area of grass has large herds of elephants, antelope and gazelles. Those animals graze on the many plants that grow there. You can also spot rhinos, waterbucks, gemsbok, ostriches, and greater kudu.

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Red River Hogs

These wild pigs are widely seen through the rainforests, thickets and savannas of western and central Africa. The animals get their name from their reddish color and because they are usually found near sources of water.

Also called the “tufted pig” due to the ear tassels and long white whiskers. The are covered in bristly red coat of hair with black and white markings on head and white rings around the eyes. A crest of white hair runs the length of the spine – this will stand erect when the animal is alarmed. Snout is long and, in males, has ridges and warts running lengthwise. Upper tusks are nearly invisible, but lower are sharp and can be three inches long. They possess an incredible sense of smell and hearing. When searching for food, they will sweep their snout over the ground in circular motions. Once food is located, the firm snout is again used, this time to root up the food. The sharp tusks are used to cut through woody roots and tubers. They can hear the movements of an earthworm under the ground.

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Forest Edge

The Forest Edge Habitat has giraffes, zebras and ostriches. Patrons can see the animals at four different areas. The exhibit is 3.5 acres and mimics the lightly wooded savannas found in Kenya.

Animal Exhibits
Giraffe
Ostrich
Zebra

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African Lion

No visit to our Africa region is complete unless you see our lions. These majestic cats will leave you roaring for more.

The roar of a male lion can be heard five miles away, and their mane is not only for demonstration, but protection in fights with other males and sometimes hyenas. Although males are called King of the Beasts, in a lion pride it is the females doing the hunting for the entire group.

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Kitera Forest

A large community of chimpanzees call Kitera Forest home. They’re very social and don’t mind walking up to the glass to greet visitors.

Chimpanzees are intelligent and very social animals. They live in large troops that may number 50 individuals or more. Troops are led by a dominant, or alpha, male and female, and the hierarchy is maintained through posture, facial expressions, sounds, gestures and fights. Tool use is well documented in chimpanzees, with chimps creating tools to help them find food (using a small twig to fish out termites or smashing nuts that are too hard to crack between two rocks), obtain and transport water by chewing leaves and then soaking up water with them, and even using rocks and limbs to threaten other animals.

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Lemur Islands

Some of the world’s most enigmatic and full of life creatures call Lemur Island home. At this exhibit there are two species of lemurs, the ring-tailed (Lemur catta) and the red-ruffed (Varecia rubra).

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Forest Glade

These primates have broad chests and are covered in black hairs which, in males, turn silver-grey on their backs as they age. Gorillas are typically peaceful animals, and western lowland gorillas live in small groups of often one dominant male, a few adult females, and their offspring. They forage on the ground for vegetation and build leaf nests to sleep in.

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See the largest troop of energetic Hamadryas Baboons in the country and a Bateleur Eagle.