London Zoo has begun its annual census of creatures, which saw the addition of a litter of African hunting pups, a baby lemur and male gorilla.
During the tally, zookeepers with cameras and clipboards scour enclosures and tanks for information that is shared with zoos around the world.
“As a part of the school’s licensing requirement we have to do the annual stocktake,” says Mark Habben, the zoological manager of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). “It is also a brilliant opportunity to share information with other zoos.”
The animals zookeepers have to count include meerkats, lemurs, llamas and jellyfish, Habben said.
The last annual inventory, taken at the beginning of 2015, counted over 17,000 animals and 756 species.
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