At-a-glance: Aardvarks are nocturnal animals, meaning they are more active at night. During the day they sleep in dens underground. Aardvarks use their keen sense of smell to find food and their long, 12-inch tongue to grab termites underground.

Conservation Status: Least Concern
Omaha Zoo Location:
Kingdoms of the Night

At-a-glance: Weighing in at over 6 tons, the African Elephants are our heaviest residents! Six elephants made our zoo their home after being rescued from drought-striken Swaziland in the Spring of 2016. Since elephants eat 20 hours a day, your adoption helps us supply them with the food and water they need around the clock.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
African Grasslands

At-a-glance: African lions are the only cats that live in groups, called prides. Males defend the prides territory, which can be up to 100 square miles. Female Lions are the prides primary hunters.

Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Omaha Zoo Location:
African Grasslands

The American alligator is found from North Carolina to the Rio Grande in Texas. It prefers fresh water, such as slow moving rivers, swamps, marshes or lakes. Also, it’s been the official state reptile of Florida since 1987.

Conservation Status: Threatened
Omaha Zoo Location:
Kingdoms of the Night

The Largest of all cats, the Amur tiger is one of the most threatened species on Earth. For decades, Omaha's Zoo has been a leader in the preservation and management of the captive population of tigers in North America and has been a leader in developing innovative new management tools to help ensure the survival of these species far into the future.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Asian Highlands

At-a-glance: found in the mangrove swamps and freshwater wetlands in southern India, southern China, southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The Asian small-clawed otter can be up to 39 inches long and weight up to 12 pounds. 

Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Omaha Zoo Location:
Lied Jungle

Black and White Ruffed Lemurs live only on Madagascar, an island off the eastern coast of Africa. They are quite social and their groups have clearly defined male and female hierarchies. Most communities number 2-5 individuals, but can reach up to 16.

Conservation Status: Critically Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Expedition Madagascar

At-a-glance: Blue Poison Dart Frogs get their poison by eating ants that eat toxic plants; frogs take that toxin and synthesize it into a more complex neurotoxin; frogs at the zoo do not have the poison in their diet so they are not poisonous.

Conservation Status: Not Assessed
Omaha Zoo Location:
Kingdoms of the Night

At-a-glance: Bonnethead Sharks are abundant within inshore, coastal, continental and insular shelf areas within its range. They are commonly found in estuaries, shallow bays and channels, mud and sand flats, and reef habitats.

Conservation Status: Least Concern
Omaha Zoo Location:
Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium

At-a-glance: As one of the fastest land animals, cheetahs can reach speeds of 70 miles per hour in seconds, thanks, in part, to many unique physical characteristics including a flexible spine, an oversized liver, an enlarged heart, wide nostrils and increased lung capacity. Cheetahs are reluctant fighters which, along with habitat loss and poaching, has contributed to their endangerment as a species: there are currently fewer than 10,000 in existence.

Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Omaha Zoo Location:
African Grasslands

At-a-glance: The clownfish and the sea anemone have a symbiotic, or mutually beneficial, relationship. The anemone acts as a host for the clownfish and the clownfish is able to live within the anemone without being harmed by its stinging tentacles.

Conservation Status: Least Concern
Omaha Zoo Location:
Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium

At-a-glance: Gentoo penguins live in the sub-Antarctic regions, near cold water currents at sea. They spend almost halftheir life at sea, leaving water only to breed and molt. They live in large, loud breeding colonies called rookeries, which can include thousands of penguins.

Conservation Status: Near Threatened
Omaha Zoo Location:
Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium

At-a-glance: The Madagascar giant jumping rat is the largest rodent in Madagascar (about the size of a rabbit). Their large rear feet enable them to leap three feet into the air when threatened. Slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal production, logging, human settlements and an introduced black rat species have all contributed to their loss of native habitat.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Expedition Madagascar

At-a-glance: Giraffes are the tallest land animals, reaching heights of 17 feet. Their necks can reach a length of six feet, which is almost one-third the length of their entire body.

Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Omaha Zoo Location:
African Grasslands

At-a-glance: A gorilla’s size allows them to be called the largest of all living primates. They typically weigh between 350 and 450 pounds and stand 4 feet 6 inches to 6 feet tall. Their arms may span more than 8 feet 6 inches.

Conservation Status: Critically Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Hubbard Gorilla Valley

At-a-glance: King penguins are recognized by their size - they are the second largest of living penguins. They have distinctive black and white tuxedo markings with oval auricular patches of yellowish-orange on the sides of their heads and on their necks.

Conservation Status: Least Concern
Omaha Zoo Location:
Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium

At-a-glance: Meerkats live in groups of five to 30 members that are called mobs or gangs. They make their home in grass-lined burrows which they share with ground squirrels and yellow mongooses.

Conservation Status: Least Concern
Omaha Zoo Location:
Desert Dome
African Grasslands

At-a-glance: Monarch butterflies can be found in North America south of the Hudson Bay down to South America. The monarch butterfly's habitat is open fields and meadows with milkweed. In winter, it can be found on the coast of southern California and at high altitudes in central Mexico.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Berniece Grewcock Butterfly and Insect Pavilion

At-a-glance: Orangutans are native to Borneo and Sumatra. They live in different forest habitats, such as mangrove and coastal swamp forests, lowland fruit trees and mountain forests.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Hubbard Orangutan Forest

At-a-glance: Pygmy hippos live in the rainforests of extreme western Africa and the lowlands, near creeks, rivers, lakes and swamps. They live somewhat semi-aquatic lifestyles. This is aided by their webbed feet and ability to remain submerged for up to five minutes.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Lied Jungle

At-a-glance: Red Pandas are found only in small, isolated mountain territories above 4,000 in China, Nepal, India, Bhutan and Burma. The Chinese name for the Red Panda is "hun-ho", meaning "fire fox". 

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Asian Highlands

At-a-glance: Ring-tailed lemurs, which hail from the southern part of Madagascar, are very vocal, using whistles, grunts, and meows for greeting, marking their territory, warding off threats and sounding the alarm.

Conservation Status: Near Threatened
Omaha Zoo Location:
Expedition Madagascar

At-a-glance: Rockhopper penguins live on the coastal islands above the Antarctic peninsula. They spend half their lives in the water, while the other half is spent on land mating, rearing their young, or molting. In January, 2014, five rockhopper chicks hatched at the zoo.

Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Omaha Zoo Location:
Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium

at-a-glance: Found only on the Santa Catalina Island in the gulf of California, Mexico. This critically endangered rattleless rattlesnake can grow up to 2.5 feet long. 

Conservation Status: Critically Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Desert Dome

At-a-glance: Macaws live in pairs, family groups or flocks. Four species of macaws are extinct, due to hunting and over-exploitation in the 1700s and 1800s, but large numbers of scarlet macaws still occur over most of their original range in South American rainforests.

Conservation Status: Least Concern
Omaha Zoo Location:
Lied Jungle

At-a-glance: The sea lions at the zoo are trained to target. This means they put their nose to an object held by the trainer and are rewarded with fish. Enrichment items are often put in the pool to encourage natural behavior and to keep them active. Favorite forms of enrichment are the large, hard plastic balls, floating barrels and large pieces of ice with pieces of fish frozen inside.

Conservation Status: Least Concern
Omaha Zoo Location:
Owen Sea Lion Pavilion

At-a-glance: Having traveled the seas for more than 100 million years, sea turtles have outlived almost all of the prehistoric animals with which they once shared the planet.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium

At-a-glance: Sloth Bears are solitary creatures and are generally nocturnal. Their habitat includes the forests of South Asia ranging from India, Sri Lanka and Southern Nepal. 

Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Omaha Zoo Location:
Asian Highlands

At-a-glance: Snow leopards live in the cold highland steppes of Central Asia, usually at altitudes between 5,000 and 18,000 feet. Snow leopards are endangered because they are hunted for fur.  Many of the captured specimens are missing one or more toes due to the use of iron traps.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Cat Complex

At-a-glance: Takins, like giant pandas, are considered national treasures in China. You can find them in the Himalayas and Western China. 

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Asian Highlands

At-a-glance: White-handed gibbons live throughout the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, in family units, instead of large groups like other primates. The unit consists of a mating pair and their offspring.  Gibbon pairs communicate by singing loud, long and complex solos and duets.

Conservation Status: Endangered
Omaha Zoo Location:
Lied Jungle

At-a-glance: Rhinos are the second largest land mammal and white rhinos are the largest of the rhinos. But they're not actually white: the name is believed to come from a mistranslation of the Afrikaans word weit, meaning wide, which refers to their extra wide mouths that facilitate grazing and distinguish them from other rhinos. Their two horns consist of hardened strands of keratinized fibers, much like the fibers in human fingernails, and their skin is very thick and almosthairless. They keep it protected and cool by wallowing in mud.

Conservation Status: Near Threatened
Omaha Zoo Location:
African Grasslands