Zookeepers at Whipsnade conduct biggest task of the year behind closed doors

Zookeepers at Whipsnade have conducted the first lockdown stocktake of the animals behind closed doors, the biggest task of the year.

Thousands of animals stood up to be counted on Thursday 7th January at the Bedfordshire Zoo.

Despite being in lockdown, Whipsnade's keepers continue to care for the animals and this week started recording each and every invertebrate, bird, fish, mammal, reptile and amphibian – a compulsory task required as part of the Zoo’s license.  

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The zoo is home to almost 4,000 animals and 280 different species.

There were also many new arrivals in 2020, boosting the numbers of threatened species, including some which are extinct in the wild.

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The annual audit takes keepers almost a week to complete and the information is shared with other zoos around the world via a database called ZIMS.

This data is then used to help manage the worldwide conservation breeding programmes for endangered animals.  

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