The first Sorkonos was brought to the Warsaw Zoo. It is called a “mini elephant”

The Warsaw zoo has gained a representative of a unique species. It is a black-and-rust-colored sorconus, naturally inhabiting Tanzania. Now residents of the capital and tourists will be able to see this small mammal in the zoo in Praga Północ. Sorkonos is called a “mini-elephant” – it also has a long and flexible trunk, which it uses, among others, for digging out beetles.

A new species in the Warsaw zoo

The sorkonos, one of seventeen species of African “elephant shrews”, joined the inhabitants of the Warsaw zoo. It is only 30 centimeters high and weighs less than a kilogram. The five-month-old male arrived in Poland in April, but only now can visitors see him. Previously, he lived at the Leipzig Zoo, considered one of the most beautiful zoos in Germany. Now we will find him in Praga Północ, in the aviary opposite the entrance to the Aviary. Perhaps it will soon become as popular an attraction as the capybaras at the Wrocław Zoo. Soon, the established male will be joined by a female and a group of Tanzanian Greenfinches, small birds with a pointed, black beak, also from East Africa.

What does Sorkonos look like?

“Even though it looks more like a shrew, it is more closely related to an elephant,” it was written in a post published on the Warsaw Zoo's Facebook profile. Although it is small, it boasts unprecedented agility – it is considered one of the fastest small mammals and can reach speeds of up to 28.8 km per hour. Like the elephant, it naturally lives in Tanzania and has a long nose-lip called a trunk, which it uses, among others, for digging out beetles. “The black-and-rust-colored sorconus is extremely rare in zoos. Only about 40 individuals live in 14 European zoos! In Poland, apart from the Warsaw ZOO, you can also see sorconus monkeys in the Wrocław ZOO,” we read.