London Zoo's animals, from tarantulas to tigers, get their annual weigh-in
Staff at London Zoo got the measure of giant gorillas, plump penguins and skinny stick insects at the zoo’s annual animal weigh-in
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Staff at London Zoo got the measure of giant gorillas, plump penguins and skinny stick insects at the zoo’s annual animal weigh-in on Thursday.
Zookeepers tempted squirrel monkeys onto scales, totted up tarantulas and used a curry-scented measuring stick to coax Sumatran tigers to stretch out.
Staff at the zoo, which is home to some 14,000 animals, will take several days to weigh and measure every mammal, bird, reptile, fish and invertebrate in its care. The results go into a database that is shared with zoos around the world.
Angela Ryan, head of zoological operations at London Zoo, said an animal’s weight is vital information that can reveal whether creatures are healthy, and even which are pregnant.
“We have critically endangered animals here,” she said. “It’s absolutely vital that we are managing them, managing their health, that we’re breeding them and breeding them well and we’re having healthy offspring that can breed on again.”