Mammals

Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates (animals with backbones) that nourish their young with milk. All mammals have hair at some stage of their life. Mammals have larger, more highly developed brains than other animals. There are more than 5,400 mammal species on earth.

Addax

Nomads of the Sahara Desert, addax live in one of the most inhospitable climates on earth.

African Painted Dog

Although their scientific name means “painted wolf” they are neither wolves nor dogs but a unique species that has existed for over three million years.

American Badger

Solitary animals, badgers will aggressively defend themselves against much larger predators including coyotes, bears, mountain lions, and golden eagles.

Asian Elephant

Known for their intelligence and social behavior, these pachyderms can communicate with each other using infrasound over a distance of more than two miles.

Babirusa

Male babirusa are known for their bizarre tusks, which, if they’re not worn down or broken in combat, will eventually grow long enough to pierce the animal’s skull.

Baird’s Tapir

The Baird’s tapir is the largest terrestrial mammal in Central America.

Bettong (a.k.a woylie)

Brush-tailed bettongs are named for a black tuft of fur that extends from their prehensile tails. They are a grayish-brown marsupial with a bare nose, native to Australia and known for digging front feet.

Binturong

The binturong is also known as a “bearcat” though it is neither a bear nor a cat.

Black Duiker

They live singly or in pairs, and when necessary they will fight with blunt strokes of the forehead to instill injury with their short horns.

Bongo

Bongos are fast runners and with their heads tilted up so that the horns lay along the back, are able to force their way through the forest rapidly.

Bornean Orangutan

In the Malay language, the word orang means person and utan means forest, so their name means “person of the forest.”

Buff-Cheeked Gibbon

Gibbons use their loud voices to defend their territories, and singing is essential in forming and maintaining pair-bonds.

Calamian Deer

The Calamian deer is sometimes known as the hog deer because when fleeing from danger it dashes through underbrush with its head down like a hog

California Sea Lion

These agile swimmers use their long front flippers propel them through the water at speeds of 25 to 35 mph.
Cape Porcupine at the L.A. Zoo

Cape Porcupine

Cape porcupines have quills that can grow up to 12 inches long—making for an impressive means of defense.

Chacoan Peccary

Chacoan peccaries are social animals that live in small herds of up to ten individuals.

Chimpanzee

The Los Angeles Zoo is home to one of the largest chimpanzee troops of any zoo in the country.

Chinese Goral

Gorals do not have other competitors from their family because they can navigate and survive in such harsh, rocky environments at high altitude.

Coquerel’s Sifaka

Sifakas belong to an early group of primates called lemurs. They are found only in Madagascar, an island off the eastern coast of Africa.

Crested Capuchin Monkey

All capuchins are adept at manipulating objects, using their nimble fingers to manipulate tools such as rocks to crack open nuts and small branches to fish for termites.

Desert Bighorn Sheep

The majestic spiral horns of the male bighorn sheep are one of the most easily identifiable in the animal world.

Fennec Fox

Fennec foxes, sometimes also referred to as simply fennecs, are among the smallest and most social fox species.

François’ Langur

François’s langurs live in family groups of three to 12 individuals comprising one male, several females, and their offspring.

Geoffroy’s Black-Handed Spider Monkey

When you see a spider monkey hanging out in the tree tops, supported by its long, slim limbs and prehensile tail, you can understand where it got the name “spider” monkey.

Giant Anteater

The giant anteaters has a long, sticky tongue that can extend up to 24 inches, and allows this insectivore to slurp up ants and termites.

Giant Otter

As the name suggests, this is the world’s largest otter species.

Grevy’s Zebra

The stripe pattern of a Grevy’s zebra is as distinctive as human fingerprints.

Harbor Seal

Harbor seals are part of the true seal family, characterized by their lack of external ears as well as limited locomotion on land due to small forelimbs.
jaguars are common mascots

Jaguar

The jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas and the world’s third largest cat.

Koala

Koalas are marsupials and belong to the same family as kangaroos and opossums.

Lowland Paca

Lowland pacas are quite adaptable and have a large geographic range from northeastern Mexico to Paraguay, Northern Argentina to southeastern Brazil.

Mandrill

Mandrills travel in multi-male and multi-female groups called troops, which range from 20 animals to, on occasion, more than 200.
Maned Wolf at the LA Zoo

Maned Wolf

The maned wolf’s hind legs are slightly longer than its front legs, making it a talented uphill climber.

Masai Giraffe

Giraffes are able to swing their great necks around and thump their horns into another’s body.

Meerkat

Meerkats live in matriarchal groups of up to 30 individuals called mobs or gangs.

Mountain Tapir

Mountain tapirs, one of four tapir species, live at high elevations and so their fur is longer and thicker than that of other tapir species

Nigerian Dwarf Goat

Originating in West Africa, Nigerian dwarf goats have also been known as pygmy goats due to their small size.

Ocelot

Ocelots rest in trees during the day and are nocturnal, hunting most of the night.

Okapi

The okapi is shy, secretive, and diurnal (active during the day). It is usually solitary and it follows a well-trodden network of trails.

Peninsular Pronghorn (Berrendo)

Pronghorn are fast from birth; at just four days old, fawns can outrun humans, and in one week, they can outrun dogs and horseback-riders over short distances.

Red River Hog

Red river hogs are good swimmers and fast runners, active mostly at night.

Red-Capped Mangabey

Mangabey fingers and toes are partially webbed, making them excellent swimmers.

Ring-Tailed Lemur

One of fifty different lemur species, ring-tailed lemurs use their tails to send signals (such as “follow me”) to each other.

Serval

Servals are elusive predators that belong to the small cat family, Felinae.

Shetland Sheep

Humans brought sheep to the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland more than 1,000 years ago.

Short-Nosed Echidna

Echidnas and platypuses are the only surviving monotremes, an ancient order of egg-laying mammals.

Siamang

Siamangs are arboreal, spending most of their time relaxing in the trees or swinging between branches.

Sichuan Takin

The takin belongs to a family of animals known as antilocaprids (goat-antelopes) and shares some features with goats, antelopes, and sheep.

Snow Leopard

Snow leopards can jump 30 to 50 feet between mountain ledges, using their tails to balance

Southern Gerenuk

When threatened or preyed upon, a gerenuk may stand very still behind a bush or a tree and slowly creep away with its head lowered, or gallop toward a place of safety.

Southern Pudu

In addition to being the world’s smallest deer species, the pudu is also generally solitary with individuals only joining during mating season. Southern Pudu

Southern Tamandua

This South American anteater uses strong claws to dig small holes in ant or termite nests and lick up the insects as they exit.

Speke’s Gazelle

This small, delicate antelope was named after the British explorer John Hanning Speke.

Sumatran Tiger

Like most wild cats, Sumatran tigers are solitary animals that live within marked, carefully guarded territories.

Tadjik Markhor

The markhor’s name comes from the ancient Persian words “mar” and “khor,” which translates as “the snake eater.”

Tammar Wallaby

Tammar wallabies are the smallest species of wallaby and are often preyed upon by dingoes.

Visayan Warty Pig

One of the most endangered species of wild pig, the Visayan warty pig occupies only 5% of its original range.

Western Gray Kangaroo

Kangaroos can reach speeds of more than 30 mph for short periods and can jump as high as five feet.
A Western Lowland Gorilla relaxes

Western Lowland Gorilla

Gorillas are tool users and wild gorillas have been observed using rocks and sticks as rudimentary tools.

White-Faced Saki

Unlike other New World monkeys, white-faced sakis’ tails are not prehensile and cannot be used to grip branches.

Yellow-Backed Duiker

Duikers have a hesitant high-stepping gait and, when alarmed, the yellow-backed duiker whistles a sharp alert before fleeing quickly into the thick underbrush.

Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby

These medium-sized, nocturnal wallabies rest in caves and rock crevices during the day, occasionally emerging to sunbathe