Planet Zoo

The desert horned viper (or Cerastes cerastes) is a venomous snake native to the deserts and semi-deserts of Northern Africa and the Middle East. It is also known as the Saharan horned viper. The body of the desert horned viper is sand-coloured, often with a paler underside. They may have slightly darker brown mottling on their scales as camouflage. The head is large and triangular. Most notably, they may have distinctive, pointed horns above their eyes, from which they get their name. Males and females look alike, although females tend to be slightly larger.

As a subspecies of the African wild ass, the Somali wild ass (or Equus africanus somaliensis) is an equid that lives in the deserts and semi-deserts of Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea. It has a grey coat with a pale underside and white legs, which are covered in thin black stripes. It has a rigid, black-tipped mane, black-tipped ears and a black tuft at the tip of its tail. The muzzle is pale but may be grey-black around the nose and mouth.

The sand cat (or Felis margarita) is a small wild cat native to the deserts of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. It has thick, sand-coloured fur, with thin, dark stripes across its back, legs, and tail. The sand cat’s face is round, with dark, striped markings, large ears and yellow eyes. Males and females look alike, and are 24cm to 36cm tall at the shoulder, 39cm to 52cm long, with their tail measuring a further 23cm to 31cm. Male sand cats weigh 2.1kg to 3.4kg, while females are a little lighter at 1.4kg to 3.1kg.

The dama gazelle (or Nanger dama) is a species of ungulate living in the Sahara desert and the Sahel. It has a short white coat on its belly, legs, hindquarters, and face, and red-brown fur on its back, shoulders, and neck. On its head, the dama gazelle has large protuberant ears and a black, curled horn. These horns are present on both males and females, however those of females are much shorter. Horn length in males ranges from 25cm to 35cm, with female horns around half that size on average.

The dromedary camel (or Camelus dromedarius) is a camelid living throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and Western Asia. It has also been introduced to European countries and Australia. Dromedaries are usually sandy brown, tan, or cream in colour, but may also have dark or pied colouration. They have a single hump on their back, long legs, and a long neck. The dromedary camel has a domed head with small, rounded ears, large eyes with long lashes, and large, protuberant lips.

The black rhinoceros (or Diceros bicornis), also known as the hook-lipped rhinoceros, is a large ungulate native to the grasslands and scrublands of Southern and Eastern Africa. Black rhinos have two horns on their face, with the anterior horn being much longer than the posterior horn. They have thick, grey skin, stocky limbs, small eyes, and oval-shaped ears. The black rhinoceros stands 1.40m to 1.80m tall at the shoulder, is 3m to 3.75m long, and weighs between 800kg and 1400kg. Males and females are similar in size.

The African crested porcupine (or Hystrix cristata) is a large species of rodent found in the semi-deserts, savannahs, and montane areas of Central and Northern Africa, as well as Italy. Its coarse, bristled fur is dark brown to black in colour, with its most distinctive feature being the black and white quills that grow from the middle of its neck, across its back and sides, and down its tail. These quills are raised upright when the porcupine feels threatened, and are very sharp. The African crested porcupine has a blunt, rounded snout, small eyes, and round ears.