Counting animals is
THERE was no time for monkeying around at the annual London Zoo stock take yesterday.
Zookeepers faced the huge challenge of tallying up every mammal, bird, reptile, fish and invertebrate at the Regent’s Park attraction.
The total “zoo’s who” came to 19,035, an increase of more than 2,000 from the 2019 count.
Among the first to be counted of nearly 600 species were the zoo’s four critically endangered Asiatic lions – Heidi, Indi, Rubi and Bhanu.
Two Bactrian camels were noted as well as 40 giant African land snails and 18 Bolivian blackcapped squirrel monkeys.
Last year saw the arrival of many new animals including Elio the two-toed sloth and Star the tamandua anteater, who were born in the zoo’s Rainforest Life exhibit.
Six Humboldt penguin chicks hatched bringing the total to 91, while four Chinese giant salamanders and four big-headed turtles were rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.
For some keepers the task is relatively easy, but staff at the insect house have to look after hundreds of thousands of tiny residents, and so a fast-track cheat is necessary.
The insect team count ant colonies as one, instead of tracking thousands of individual ants.
Assistant curator of mammals, Teague Stubbington, said: “It’s the time of year where so many of us are taking stock.
Breeding
“And looking forward and here at ZSL [Zoological Society of London] London Zoo we’re doing exactly the same. We have to submit the number of animals each year as part of our zoo licence, and we also share them with the international zoo community to inform our global breeding programmes for endangered species.
“ZSL London Zoo is home to more than 580 species, from endangered Asiatic lions to critically endangered Chinese giant salamanders, and we’re working not only here in the zoo to increase their numbers, but on conservation projects around the world too.”
The annual audit will take zookeepers almost a week to complete.