London Zoo annual weigh-in draws mixed reaction from residents

Animals had their beach bodies put to the test in the summer sunshine as keepers put them on the scales for London Zoo’s annual weigh-in.

Waxy monkey frogs, giant African land snails and tamandua tree anteaters were among the creatures which had their vital statistics recorded.

The measurements are used to monitor the animals’ health and shared with zoos across the world to compare information on endangered species.

Zookeeper Angela Ryan, who looks after camels, said: “Every year we like to weigh the animals we have at the zoo, really just for a record so we can share it with other zoos and even conservation projects abroad.

“Not everything can be weighed, but anything that we have that can be trained, from camels to birds, aadvarks to armadillos — even the tigers — we are trying to get weighed today.

“By being able to tell what they weigh, we can use that later on if they’re not very well — if they’ve lost weight we know that they’re sick, if they’re pregnant their weights will go up, so throughout the year we can use it as a comparative,” said Ms Ryan.

Information taken from some of London Zoo’s more than 19,000 animals is shared on the global Zoological Information Management System.

But actually getting the measurements on record can prove tricky.

Zookeeper Paul Kybett was charged with tempting Sumatran tiger Jae Jae to stand up against a measuring tape.

Kybett used horsemeat to get the five-and-a-half-year-old male to spread out, and after a few goes was able to measure him at a length of about 6ft 6in.

Asked which animals were hardest to measure and weigh, he said: “It’s down to individuals really.

“Melati, the female, is very difficult because she is quite a nervy animal, very tigress-y, and will keep away from you.

“That particular individual is quite difficult to get on to the weighing scales; although we have achieved that we haven’t been able to measure her length.

“Jae Jae is completely different — we can do practically anything we want with him.”

Keepers found that the female two-humped camel Noemie had lost weight since last year, despite coming in at a whopping 625kg (98 stone).

“The first time we put the scales in there, it was very scary for him apparently, so he ran to the other side of the paddock and wouldn’t come anywhere near us,” Ms Ryan said.

“It was quite challenging but quite fun for the keepers because we have now been able to get the weight, it’s quite an achievement.”