W2B-021 Zoo - Environment-3.txt
Seeing Sense by Kathleen Mannis Zoo Education Officer

Sight is the sense which we use most of all and our eyes are very highly developed with only birds able to see better than we do. For many animals sight is not important and they therefore have only very simple eyes which can detect light/darkness and movement.

To form a clear image a lens is needed to focus. Most vertebrates (animals with a backbone) have this type of eye. Birds have the best sight of all, birds of prey having remarkable vision.

Not every animal can see in colour as we do. Dogs cannot distinguish red from green and most nocturnal animals have very poor colour vision. Once again birds are the best and can see many more hues than we can. Some animals can see wave-lengths that are invisible to us. Piranha fish and goldfish can see infra-red used in remote control beams, while most insects can see ultra-violet.
