From eight to 4,000...Whipsnade Zoo launches 80th year with big count

But, eight decades later, the zoo now boasts more than 4,000 creatures, great and small.

And yesterday, January 11, keepers started the 80th anniversary year with the annual stocktake.

Clipboards to hand, staff counted the animals two by two in their annual New Year stocktake, which included tallying the Egyptian tortoises, Hercules beetles and baby elephant George.

All keepers took part in the huge exercise, taking a head count of more than 200 different species at Whipsnade.

And the 2011 count includes feathery and furry babies – including two ostrich chicks, a rockhopper penguin and five little cheetah cubs.

Every single animal is added to the grand total, right down to the shoals of fish and tiny ants in the Discovery Centre who are numbered in groups, rather than individually.

While it is useful for the zoo, the stocktake is also an essential procedure as it is a compulsory requirement of obtaining the zoo licence.

The numbers also go into an international database, which is then used to plan future conservation breeding.