Dudley Zoo's annual stocktake begins - with VIDEO
The painstaking process of counting every single animal at one of the Black Country's top attractions is underway for another year.
From Asha the Asiatic lioness to Zeb the black and white ruffed lemur, all animals at Dudley Zoo need to be counted during its annual stocktake.
The audit forms part of the licensing requirements for all UK zoos and wildlife parks.
It sees keepers totting up every invertebrate, bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian across the 40-acre site.
Curator Richard Brown said: “We have more than 1,600 animals on site and 260 different species– ranging from great apes to the tiniest medicinal leeches in our Castle Creatures exhibit.
“However this start of year task is really just a confirmation exercise to make sure our yearly inventory tallies with the results, as our staff know how many animals they care for on on a day-to-day basis.”
The annual audit began yesterday. Following the census count, which usually takes a week to complete, the numbers are collated and then put into a worldwide database – the Zoological Information Management System – by the Zoo's registrar and research co-ordinator, Dr David Beeston.
