A Trip To The Zoo Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tiger

Melbourne Zoo has implemented a program to ensure the survival of the Sumatran tiger with five tigers currently in their program. Sumatran tigers enjoy the water, not like others species from the cat family, and at Melbourne Zoo they enjoy life in a simulated environment.

The zoo has an active breeding program that ensures a birth rate of survival of cubs that in conjunction with other worldwide zoos to continuance of the species.

Answer: Painting

The elephants at Melbourne Zoo have been actively painting for more than 10 years. Not only is it an excellent source of money raising but it has proven a social and intellectual stimulant to the animals.

Answer: Man of the forest

Orangutans are native to Malaysia, specifically the island of Borneo, and Indonesia, specially to the island of Sumatra. Orangutans are a species of great apes, with long reddish-brown hair, long limbs with their large plate-like faces. There is a distinctive difference between the male and females; the males are larger in their body. their faces have large cheek pads plus they have distinctive vocalisations. For the most part orangutans are solitary animals.

Answer: Gorillas

Mzuri was the first gorilla born by the use of artificial insemination in Australia, in 1984 at Melbourne Zoo.

There was public outcry and mourning that Mzuri was being sent to Jersey Zoo in 1993 to continue the breeding program where he was going to the head male gorilla. Sadly Mzuri died in 2017 in France where he was living with a group of bachelor gorillas.

Gorillas are the largest primates living in central Africa and are considered critically endangered.

Answer: Colobus monkey

Colobus monkeys are from Africa with the picture here being the black and white colobus. These monkeys are herbivores eating a vegetarian diet. The colobus is a forest dweller.

Colobus monkeys have a family consisting of one male and around ten others, females and offspring. Colobus monkeys are territorial and will ensure the protection of their habitat and their family members.

Colobus monkeys are known for being important to ecology by dispersing seed within their habitat.

Answer: Zebras

African zebras are members of the horse family. Each zebra's black and white stripes are unique. After a zebra is born the mother makes sure that it doesn't see any other zebra so it recognises its own mother's stripes. Zebras live in social groups of small harems to large herds.

There are three species of zebra, mountain, plains and Grevy's Zebra. Melbourne Zoo has plains zebras.

Answer: Giraffe

The African giraffe is the tallest animal in the world. Melbourne Zoo cares for Thompson's giraffes with an active breeding program. We all recognise the giraffe's long neck and legs, two horn-like lumps, with a distinctive fur coat pattern. Giraffes are mainly found in the woodlands and savannahs enabling them to forage on leaves, fruits, flowers, especially acacia trees. Giraffes, though they are a large mammal are still prey for the cats, hyenas and wild dogs of Africa.

Answer: Swans

The black swan is Western Australia's bird emblem. Black swans have mostly black feathers though their flight feathers are white. Their bill is red with a white tip. Black swans mate for life and both share in the upbringing of their chicks. Black swans are nomadic seemingly following the weather and as such their food source.

When flying black swans use the "v" formation with vocalisation to ensure all the flock are travelling together.

Answer: Platypus

The platypus and the echidna are the only egg-laying mammals native to Australia. Considered semi-aquatic, the platypus lives around rivers in eastern Australia. The other interesting fact about the platypus is that it has venom-producing ankle spurs. Interestingly there are no living platypus anywhere else in the world.

Answer: Lion

The photograph of an African lion, Harare, at Melbourne Zoo, who unfortunately died early in 2017.

African lions are considered vulnerable and only survive in National Parks. The Asian lions are considered critically endangered.

Interestingly, Lion's Mane is an edible mushroom which is said to taste like seafood and used in many Chinese recipes to replace the same.