New Yorkers-Alex, the self-absorbed lion; Ayana, the Idealistic leopard; Marty, the optimistic zebra; Melman, the hypochondriac giraffe, and Gloria, the curvaceous hippo-embark on a decrepit cargo airplane along with some new friends. However, this time, the team crash-lands at the flat plains of the boundless African savannah, marooned at a particular and all-too-familiar place where the memories flood and everyone gets the chance to broaden their horizons.
But after spending so much time at the tame Central Park Zoo, can all of the Zoosters really call Africa home?
The gang find a way to escape from Madagascar when the penguins reassemble a wrecked airplane. The precariously repaired craft stays airborne just long enough to make it to the African continent. There the New Yorkers encounter members of their own species for the first time. Africa proves to be a wild place, but Alex and company wonder if it is better than their Central Park home.