The exotic neighbours on our doorstep in Belfast are the subject of a vivid series of posters being given away free in next week’s Belfast Telegraph.

Giraffes, maned wolves from the pampas in South America, golden lion tamarins and huge fox-like fruit bats from islands in the Indian Ocean all make their homes at Belfast Zoo on the slopes of Cave Hill.

The zoo has been going from strength to strength, attracting record numbers of visitors last year, and this year it is celebrating its 75th anniversary in style. Last week, it launched its new visitor centre and has also published images and footage online showing what the zoo experience was like in years gone by.

Each poster concentrates on a different region of the world and the animals native to it — all of which can be seen in the flesh when you pass through the gates of the zoo.

Monday’s poster focuses on animals from the continent of Africa including the Barbary lion, grassland species such as the elegant Rothschild’s giraffe, forest mammals including one of the world’s most endangered species — the western mountain gorilla — and water animals such as the great white pelican.

On Tuesday it’s across the Atlantic to the Americas where you can find water birds such as Humboldt’s penguin from the seas off the tip of Peru and Chile, Linne’s two-toed sloth from the forest canopies of South America, the Andean bear and the maned wolf from the pampas.

Island species are the focus on Wednesday, including the Rodrigues fruit bat, the ring-tailed lemurs of Madagascar and the extremely rare Montserrat oriole.

The series visits Europe on Thursday with the focus on brown bears, the grey wolf, the Iberian lynx, the more familiar badger and the white-tailed sea eagle, which once nested in Ireland.

Friday’s poster featuring Australasia looks at the red kangaroo, Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo and the bizarrely-coiffured Sheepmaker’s crowned pigeon.

The week winds up with a look at Asian species such as the Asian elephant, red panda, Malayan tapir and the Francois’ langur.