London Zoo's residents are counted in annual stocktake

2024 was a “massive” year for the zoo with the birth of two baby gorillas and three Asiatic lion cubs.

Transcript

00:00London Zoo took its annual stock of its residents on Friday, counting more than 10,000 animals

00:08across various species, including mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates. Among this

00:14year's tally are 65 humbled penguins, including five recent arrivals set to contribute to

00:20the European breeding program.

00:21We've had some really exciting additions. We've had some fluffy additions like two lovely

00:26Western lowland gorillas, critically endangered. Venus and Juno had three lion cubs, Asiatic

00:32lions, just a few hundred of those left in the wild. And an incredible story, 53 Darwin's

00:39frogs, five Humboldt penguins came in from other zoos to join our 65 Humboldt penguins

00:46here, 11 of which were born here this year.

00:50In early 2024, conservation efforts were bolstered by the births of two critically endangered

00:56Western lowland gorillas, Juno and Venus, alongside three Asiatic lion cubs named Mali,

01:02Siani and Shanti. Other new additions to the zoo include 53 edged Darwin's frogs from

01:09Chile, UK native medicinal leeches to launch a breeding initiative and a male Okapi.

01:16The annual stock take is expected to take almost a week to fully complete, with the

01:21results shared with zoos around the world to help manage worldwide conservation programs.