The animals of Central Park Zoo are living the great live, stars of New York. Trouble comes though when Marty the Zebra turns 10, and his fellow animals throw him a birthday party, yet what Marty really wants is to be wild and run free, in spite of never knowing life outside the zoo. That night he goes out into New York City, his friends in pursuit. After they are re-captured, the city decides that the animals are too dangerous to continue keeping and so they are shipped in crates bound to their native homeland. However when the penguins take over the ship in their plans to go to Antarctic, the crates holding Marty, Alex, Gloria and Melman are thrown overboard; washing up on the shores of a Madagascan island. The local lemurs believe that these “Pansies” will be able to help them get rid of the local predators; but with no meat on the menu and with him getting increasingly hungry, Alex’s natural instincts slowly start to kick in.