London Zoo Begins Annual Count of Over 10,000 Animals

The week-long census helps track endangered species and supports global conservation breeding efforts.

London Zoo's annual stocktake involves counting its 10,000+ animals across 400 species, a process that takes nearly a week to complete.
The census includes recent arrivals such as two baby western lowland gorillas, three Asiatic lion cubs, and 53 endangered Darwin's frogs rescued from Chile.
Keepers use innovative methods to tally animals, from visual confirmation of gorillas to identifying individual penguins by memory or their unique bracelets.
Data collected during the stocktake is shared globally via the ZIMS Species360 database to support conservation breeding programs for endangered species.
The stocktake highlights the zoo's breeding successes in 2024, including 11 Humboldt penguin chicks and the thriving population of Socorro doves, extinct in the wild.