From lions and tigers to bears and a chameleon called Peachy, the mammoth task of counting more than 11,000 animals for Whipsnade Zoo’s annual stocktake has begun.
Every mammal, bird, reptile, fish and invertebrate will be weighed and measured as part of the herculean undertaking.
However, not all of the creatures at the Bedfordshire zoo are willing participants.
This means keepers have to use clever tactics to entice the animals to stand up and be measured, such as ‘tricking’ penguins into walking over scales during their morning feed, or coaxing camels onto giant weigh boards with a tasty snack.
London Zoo will also carry out a similar stocktake later this week.
Line up! From lions and tigers to bears and a chameleon called Peachy (pictured), the huge task of counting more than 11,000 animals for Whipsnade Zoo’s annual stocktake has begun
Eurasian brown bear Minnie is measured during the annual stocktake at Whipsnade Zoo
Among those counted at Whipsnade Zoo so far are a domestic Bactrian camel called Oakley and a critically endangered blue-throated macaw named Stilton.
European brown bears Minnie, Mana and Naya – who arrived at the conservation zoo in April as part of a global breeding programme – also took part in their first annual weigh-in.
They measured over 6ft against their giant rulers after being tempted by a dash of honey.
Zookeeper Tim Savage said: ‘All of the animals at Whipsnade Zoo are weighed and measured regularly, but today’s annual weigh-in is an opportunity to review the information we’ve recorded, and ensure it is up-to-date and accurate.
‘With so many animals with different personalities, we have to come up with creative tactics to entice them onto the scales; from luring our leaping 2.5kg lemurs onto the scales in exchange for their favourite sweetcorn or using honey to encourage our European brown bears to stretch up to their full height against giant rulers.
‘Minnie and Mana proved that bears really will do anything for a taste of honey!’
All the animals’ weights and measurements will be recorded in a shared database called the Zoological Information Management System, which will also be used by staff at London Zoo for their stocktake.
This helps zookeepers around the world compare important information on thousands of threatened species.
Carrying out weight checks and waist measurements not only helps staff keep an eye on animals’ wellbeing, it also allows them to identify pregnant creatures.
Getting measured: A giant red legged millipede named Tina is weighed by keeper Elliott Rose
Among those counted at the Bedfordshire zoo so far are a critically endangered blue-throated macaw named Stilton
Give us a treat! Keepers had to coax camels onto giant weigh boards with a tasty snack
A ring-tailed lemur leaps onto another as apprentice zookeeper Mark Wallington operates a set of scales
Tyrone the spiny turtle is weighed during the annual weigh-in at Whipsnade Zoo today
Not only that, but it provides important information for their care, as well as for their species, as many are threatened in the wild and part of conservation breeding programmes.
Whipsnade is home to more than 11,000 animals, including a herd of Asian elephants.
Only last year the conservation zoo celebrated the birth of endangered Asian elephant calf, Nang Phaya, as well as the arrival of a reticulated giraffe calf named after war poet Wilfred Owen.
A critically endangered Visayan warty piglet was also added to the zoo’s official records in 2022, along with hundreds of critically endangered and extinct-in-the-wild freshwater fish which were bred at the zoo’s aquarium and freshwater conservation breeding centre.
Hold still! Zookeeper Elizabeth Brown weighs Stilton the blue-throated macaw
European brown bears Minnie (pictured), Mana and Naya – who arrived at the conservation zoo in April as part of a global breeding programme – took part in their first annual weigh-in
All the animals’ weights and measurements will be recorded in a shared database called the Zoological Information Management System
Whipsnade is home to more than 11,000 animals, including these ring-tailed lemurs
