ZSL London Zoo counts all the animals!

http://www.zsl.org Why would you want to count penguins, hippos and meerkats? Simples it is that time of year again - ZSL London Zoos annual stocktake.

Spare a thought for Zookeepers at ZSL London Zoo today, when they will be undertaking a complete head count of every animal.

More than 750 different species including gorillas, squirrel monkeys and tigers will be tallied up in the count.

Keepers will also brave the cold to take stock of a number of new inhabitants, including the first lion cubs born at the Zoo in a decade, a new Komodo dragon and a critically endangered mangabey baby.

New exhibits mean that more animals than ever before need to be counted. The Zoos brand new Animal Adventure exhibit, which opened in March this year, includes a pair of nosey aardvarks, a pack of coatis and some prickly porcupines all of which will be individually counted by keepers.

For the first time ever, some of the Zoos biggest and slowest residents shell be included. The brand new Giants of the Galapagos exhibit opened in July this year and is home to three giant Galapagos tortoises, who will have to be included in the count.

Last year was a bumper year for ZSL London Zoo with babies and new residents galore. Keepers now have quite a task on their hands to count all of the animals from the smallest bug to the tallest giraffe.