LONDON, UK — The London Zoo has begun its annual weigh-in, with keepers keen to find out what effect the longest closure for the zoo since World War II has had.
The coronavirus took a toll on the zoo's finances. The virus kept the zoo closed until June. But its annual weigh-in has given the zoo the opportunity to see how more than 19,000 animals there have been faring.
Teague Stubbington, the zoo's assistant curator of mammals, said the annual event takes about one week to get through all the animals and update their records.
"It's really important because it helps us look after our animals and keep them in really good health and look after their well-being," Stubbington said.
Staff could tell some species had succumbed to the lockdown blues. Stubbington said some of the animals had noticeably missed the daily influx of visitors, appearing disappointed when no one arrived after the normal opening time.
"They were actually lining up to meet people at the gate and when they weren't there at 10 o'clock, they were disappointed," Stubbington said. "So our keepers had to spend time during lockdown with those animals interacting with them to give them the contact that they were missing."