CAUGHT ON CAMERA

This edition’s Caught on Camera features animals you’re likely to find in the zoo – many of them in Heart of Africa. These images were captured by camera traps set out by our conservation partners in wildlife reserves in Kenya and Uganda. We work hard to make sure the animals in our care benefit from enrichment and can behave as they would in the wild. You might spot the animals of Chester Zoo taking part in the same activities as their cousins in Africa…

Aardvark

You’ll find aardvarks in Heart of Africa and in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. They hail from the savannah, where they snuffle out food with their long snout. The bulk of their diet includes termites and ants, and they spend the night hours exploring their habitat in search of something tasty to slurp up. They are nocturnal, so you’re likely to find them napping when you visit us.

Buffalo

Buffalo are herd animals. Females and calves live in close community, though older bulls may be solitary or live in smaller bachelor herds. They are an adaptable species and roam forests, savannahs and bushland in search of foliage. They have complex social behaviours, establish hierarchies of dominance and can fend off predators by forming a defensive ring around more vulnerable members of the herd. They also like a salt lick.

Banded mongoose

The inquisitive animals in this video are banded mongooses. You won’t find them at Chester Zoo, but you might come across their cousins, the dwarf mongoose, meerkats and the small Indian mongoose, and their more distant relatives, the narrow-striped mongoose. Banded mongooses are scavengers and travel in troops in search of a wide range of foodstuffs including small snakes, mice, grasshoppers, caterpillars and eggs.

Giraffe

This camera trap wasn’t quite angled to capture this high-stepping giraffe, but this video is a chance to reflect on their scale! Northern giraffes can reach up to 5.5m in height. You can find them in Heart of Africa, but this video was taken from a project in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, where Chester Zoo is supporting the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Northern giraffes are endangered, but we are helping monitor their health and numbers in Uganda, as well as looking after them at the zoo.

Warthog

There’s nothing like a quick plunge to cool off! This warthog is enjoying a moment of calm at the watering hole. Despite their reputation, pigs often prefer to be clean. Many wild pig species take mud baths. Warthogs in the wild have also been known to form symbiotic relationships with birds like the oxpecker and other animals like mongooses, which snap up any pesky bugs on the warthog’s hide.

Gabon red river hog

Like the warthog, red river hogs are foragers, using their sensitive noses to sniff out and unearth food. Red river hogs use their snouts to dig up tubers or locate lizards, eggs, insects and more. Piglets have blotchy fur to better camouflage them from predators. The distinctive rusty red colour will come in as they mature.

Chimpanzee

Chimpanzees are a highly sociable species, but this individual was filmed on a solo wander. Chimpanzees in the wild tend to live in close-knit family groups, just like the community at Chester Zoo. Their rankings within the troop fluctuate as members engage in dominance behaviours and forge alliances, often using grooming and food-sharing to establish bonds.

Duiker

Duiker are shy and wary animals. In fact, the name is related to the Afrikaan’s word ‘duiken’, which means ‘to dive’, and refers to their habit of leaping behind cover. This small antelope is subject to unsustainable hunting in the wild. They tend to live solo or in small groups to avoid food competition. Duiker are highly selective in what they eat, preferring the best parts of a plant. You might spot them nibbling on the most succulent leaves and shoots in their habitat.

Camera trap fact

Despite the name, there's no trapping involved! The cameras are simply left in a secret spot and sense when there's some movement or animals action in the surrounding area, helping us capture magic little moments like these.