ZSL London Zoo takes stock of a fantastic year!
Thursday 10 January 2008
A bumper batch of penguins was one of the great success stories that emerged at ZSL London Zoo during the annual stocktake.
© ZSL
The stocktake kicked off the New Year with a complete head count of every animal in the Zoo – that’s more than 600 different species from shrimpfish and giant anteaters to pygmy marmosets and giant stick insects.
This year’s count revealed some exciting triumphs - and also presented some new challenges for zookeepers doing the counting. While keeping track of the three gorillas residing in Gorilla Kingdom might not be too difficult, our newly-opened Clore Rainforest Lookout, which boasts more than 20 animals including monkeys, birds and tortoises sharing an indoor rainforest, might be trickier.
During 2007 the Zoo celebrated the births of gentle lemur triplets, red river hog twins, two tawny frogmouths, a baby silvery black tailed marmoset and a group of endangered utila iguanas – not to mention the seven new penguins that are now hanging out by the pool.
After a brilliant year that saw more than 1m visitors coming to see the new Gorilla Kingdom and Clore Rainforest Lookout exhibits, 2008 promises to be another excellent year. A new tropical bird walkthrough housed in the beautifully restored Victorian Blackburn Pavilion will be a lush oasis in the heart of London and offer visitors the chance to walk among incredible free-flying birds.
2007 proved to be another great year for ZSL London Zoo, which played a vital role in conserving and breeding species in danger of extinction.
Do have a look at our video footage of the busy day.
