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| Forest once covered half of the world's land surface. Trees include the tallest, heaviest and oldest living things. They provide food and shelter for countless animal species. Now the world's trees are disappearing at an alarming rate, threatened by destruction of the forest for logging, clearance for agriculture and the spread of towns and cities. This brings a catalogue of ecological disasters - loss of wildlife, soil erosion, climate change, pollution, desertification and flooding. |
Animals to be found
within the Zoo's forest habitat include owls, lemurs, pygmy marmosets, cassowaries,
gibbons, orang utans, gorillas, Asiatic lions and Sumatran tigers.
Plants in the forest habitats
Our forest habitat is a naturally wooded area. British woodlands have a fairly
low biodiversity, with up to 8 trees species per sq. km. Typical native trees
are deciduous hardwoods like oak, beech, ash, and alder.
Some 10% of British flora is represented in the Zoo. Wild plants attract insects,
which in turn feed birds, amphibians and mammals. Plants like nettles and brambles
may be weeds when growing in the wrong places but are crucial foods for hundreds
of species. Many native plants are also harvested for the animals in the Zoo.
Clennon Gorge
Nature Trail
The Nature Trail is a 700-metre circuit through native Devon woodland. It is an
easy walk but not totally flat and is unsuitable for wheelchairs.
Clennon Gorge is a steep-sided limestone valley. It is a designated County wildlife
site, managed by The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust. Lots of animals live
in Clennon Gorge including greater and lesser horseshoe bats and pipistrelles,
the yellow-necked mouse, emperor dragonflies, buzzards, badgers, water shrews
and grass snakes. There are many breeding birds and winter visitors such as water
rail and woodcock.