More than 10,000 animals at London Zoo hit the scales for their weigh in on 19 August, allowing zookeepers to monitor their health and compare vital measurements with those of their wild counterparts.
This isn’t the only time the animals are weighed each year, but it is special because the data gathered at this time is uploaded to an international repository of measurements from animals around the world, said zookeeper Jessica Ray, who looks after London Zoo’s colony of 79 Humboldt penguins.
Regular weighing allows keepers to monitor the animals’ long-term wellbeing and identify changes in their condition, such as illness or pregnancies.
Head zookeeper Dan Simmonds said: “The amount that we can learn from today is absolutely integral to the work that we do, not only for looking after the animals here, but also for their wild cousins.”
But with more than 400 species, ranging from colonies of 5-milligram leafcutter ants to Molly the 700-kilogram giraffe, getting every animal weighed and accounted for is no easy task.
Ray said: “With our older penguins, [weighing] takes a bit more time.
“You have to be very patient and work with them on their level, but that’s part of being a zookeeper.”
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A-WEIGH WE GO: Zookeeper Poppy Jewell weighs Gizmo the capybara at London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In | © Dominic Lipinski_LondonZoo
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