Who's Who in the Zoo Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rhinoceros

The rhinoceros, or rhino for short, gets its name from the horn on its nose, which is made of keratin (the same material your nails and hair are made of). Some species of rhino have two horns, while others only have one. Many rhinos are endangered in the wild because of poaching; rhino horn powder is used as a medicine in countries such as China and Vietnam.

The black rhino and white rhino are actually both grey or brown in colour, and are also known as square-lipped and hook-lipped rhinos respectively. ('White' is thought to be a mistranslation of the Afrikaans word 'wyd', referring to the rhino's wide lips.)

Answer: Chameleon

When you think of chameleons, you'll probably think of the colour-changing skin. Not all species of chameleon can do this, but those that do use it for camouflage and regulating their body temperatures. Darker colours warm them up, while light colours help them keep cool or maintain their body temperatures. Chameleons living in jungles tend to be green, while the ones living in deserts are browner.

The eyes on the side of the chameleon's head move independently of each other and give them a wider picture of what's going on around them. They use their long tongues to catch prey, just like frogs.

Answer: Giraffe

The giraffe is the tallest living animal, and its long neck enables it to reach leaves high up in trees. This gives it an advantage over other herbivores. Male giraffes also use their necks to fight by swinging their necks at each other. Giraffes' coat patterns vary, but they often tend to be white or cream with brown, orange or black patches. When a giraffe drinks at a watering hole, it spreads its legs - imagine it doing the splits and you get the idea - or bends its knees.

The Roald Dahl book is 'The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me', about a giraffe, a monkey and a pelican who work as window cleaners and befriend Billy, a human boy who wants to own a sweet shop.

Answer: Macaw

The scarlet macaw and the blue-and-yellow macaw are among the most distinctive macaws with their bright feathers; there's also the deep blue hyacinth macaw and the green military macaw. They have bigger beaks and longer tails than other parrot species. Although they are popular pets, the pet parrot trade has resulted in many species in the wild becoming endangered, as well as the deaths of many birds while travelling.

Macaws eat fruit, nuts and seeds, and can also eat certain vegetables, such as courgettes and carrots.

Answer: Komodo dragon

The Komodo dragon might not breathe fire or kidnap princesses, but it's still a force to be reckoned with. An apex predator - meaning it is top of the local food chain - it eats both live and dead animals, such as Javan rusa, an Indonesian breed of deer. Despite popular belief, its saliva is not poisonous, though it does have glands in its jaw that secrete toxic proteins.

Human activity has had a negative effect on wild Komodo dragons, but the Indonesian government has listed them as a protected species. Komodo National Park was founded to protect the animals, on the islands of Komodo, Padar and Rinca, and several smaller islands.

Answer: Cheetah

The cheetah is not one of the 'big cats' - the lion, jaguar, tiger, leopard and snow leopard would fall into that category, and lions even prey on cheetahs. Cheetahs can reach speeds of up to 80 miles/128 kilometres per hour, and will stalk their prey before chasing and attacking them. Their prey of choice include medium-sized herbivores, such as gazelles. You can tell them apart from leopards and jaguars because not only are they smaller, but they look like they're wearing running eyeliner, with black lines on their faces.

A corny old joke goes as follows: "Q. Why should you never play cards in the jungle? A. Too many cheetahs!" However, cheetahs are more likely to live in grasslands or rocky territory than jungles.

Answer: Orangutan

Orangutans live in Malaysia and Indonesia, though in the past, they lived in other countries, including China. Loss of habitat (they spend a lot of time in trees), poaching for meat and the pet trade have all had disastrous effects on wild populations. Orangutans have been observed using tools made from sticks to perform basic tasks, such as digging holes or catching fish (although their favourite food is fruit). Dominant males have distinctive cheek pads called flanges.

If you're a fan of Terry Pratchett's 'Discworld' books, you may remember that the Librarian at the Unseen University is an orangutan, and gets very angry if people call him a monkey!

Answer: Flamingo

Plastic pink flamingos are a kitschy lawn decoration, and with good reason - the flamingo is one of the most striking-looking wading birds, with its bright pink and red feathers, and a group of flamingos is called a 'flamboyance'. In fact, its name comes from the Spanish 'flamengo', or 'flame-coloured'. The greater flamingo is the most widespread species, while the lesser flamingo has the biggest wild populations.

Flamingos stand on one leg and eat fish, insects and water plants. Their curved beaks have hair-like structures called lamellae, which filter out mud when they scoop up their prey from the water. Their voices are as loud as their feathers; they make honking noises, similar to geese.

Answer: Capybara

Capybaras have become an internet meme due to many pictures of smaller animals and birds sitting on them. These laid-back rodents are in the same family as the cavy, or guinea pig, and hang out in large groups of up to 10-20, although some groups can contain up to 100 capybaras. They live near water (people who keep pet ones have to provide them with plenty of water to swim in), in jungles, the rainforest and grassland, and eat aquatic plants, bark and fruit.

The jungle cats of South America - jaguars, mountain lions and ocelots - prey on capybaras, as do anacondas, eagles and humans. In Venezuela, their meat is one of the only kinds of meat that isn't banned during the festival of Lent.

Answer: Reticulated python

The reticulated python is the longest snake species in the world and lives in South and Southeast Asia. It eats wild mammals and birds; smaller pythons eat rats and other rodents, while the bigger ones go for pigs, deer and primates, as they can open their mouths very wide. One python even ate a sun bear! In 2012, Chester Zoo in England had a reticulated python called Bali who was 23 feet long and needed a team of eight zookeepers and vets to handle her during a check-up.

The other three snakes listed are poisonous, but the python kills its prey by squeezing it to death instead, before swallowing it whole. There are a few cases of humans being eaten by wild pythons (don't believe the movie 'Anaconda' - one of the many things it gets wrong about anacondas is having them actively prey on humans in the wild, but there are no confirmed cases of this happening). The distinctive skin of the reticulated python makes it a popular target for snakeskin fashion items.