A pair of capybaras, Humboldt penguins, giant Galapagos tortoises and a ring-tailed lemur troop were among the animals to step on the scales at London Zoo’s annual weigh-in.
Priscilla, a 30-year-old giant Galapagos tortoise, was lured onto a board scale with a lettuce snack while the Humboldt penguins jostled in line for zookeeper Jessica Ray on Tuesday.
There are more than 10,000 animals at the zoo across 4,000 species.
The record was expected to go to Molly the giraffe, who usually weighs about 700 kilos.
London Zoo’s animals are weighed and measured on a regular basis as way of monitoring their health, development and identifying pregnancies.
Zookeepers employ different training methods or techniques to get individuals to step on to the scales.
Many of the zoo’s animals are trained to perch on a scale while zookeepers note down their measurements while, for some, scales may be placed in doorways or disguised in their habitats, meaning the animal can be weighed without realising.
London Zoo’s animal operations manager Daniel Simmonds said: “The London Zoo annual weigh-in is not just about numbers on a scale; regular weigh-ins help zookeepers track the health of our animals – including the capybaras, tortoises and penguins – and genuinely help us manage the care of these animals, who play a vital role in our global conservation efforts.”
Each measurement taken is added to the zoological information management system, a database shared with animal carers and conservationists all over the world that helps to compare important information on thousands of endangered species.
The zoo cares for a range of species, from towering giraffes to tiny Darwin’s frogs, which are one of the zoo’s smallest creatures, measuring two centimetres in length and under two grams in weight.
