Bristol Zoo’s annual animal census gets underway - 05/01/12

It has been a busy start to 2012 for the keepers at Bristol Zoo Gardens as they undertake one of the biggest jobs of the year – counting all the animals in the Zoo!

The annual animal ‘census’ is done at the start of each year and includes stocktaking more than 400 species; from tiny insects, fish and birds, to lions, gorillas and seals.

There were no surprises for the keeper counting the seven gorillas, but the task is considerably harder for the Curator of Birds, Nigel Simpson, who had the big job of counting 35 little lorikeet parrots, 56 African penguins, 109 identical lovebirds, 37 flamingos and numerous other bird species.

Nigel said: “It would be almost impossible to count birds such as the lovebirds as they look identical and don’t sit still for long enough for us to count them individually, so we log them as one flock and monitor their numbers throughout the year through hatches and deaths. We monitor our lorikeets closely and each bird has its own unique ring to identify it. This is particularly important when the birds are breeding so we know which birds are the parents of each chick.”

It’s been a successful year for the bird team as they saw a very high number of birds hatched this year – over 130 - many of which are endangered in the wild. New additions included eight flamingo chicks, five Sumatran laughing thrushes, two Brazilian tanagers, seven azure winged magpies, 15 European turtle doves, 12 Java sparrows, 14 inca terns and three palawan peacock pheasants.

It’s been a brilliant year elsewhere in the Zoo, where many new arrivals also brightened up the Zoo’s 175^th birthday year. Kukeña the baby western lowland gorilla was born in September, and the Zoo also saw the birth oftwin golden lion tamarins, a sloth, a South American fur seal, and a tapir named George, among many others.

As well as delighting over half a million visitors to the Zoo in 2011, many of the babies represent significant advances for these endangered species, as John Partridge, Senior Curator of Animals at Bristol Zoo Gardens, explains: “We’ve had a wonderful year of births and, while many of these species may be extremely cute, they are also very rare, and threatened with extinction. The breeding of these species in captivity is therefore of huge importance, in addition to the work we do to help protect their counterparts in the wild through our field projects.”

The data from the census will be submitted to the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the national professional body offering advice and guidance on all aspects of zoo management.

Bristol Zoo Gardens is a conservation and education charity and relies on the generous support of the public not only to fund its important work in the zoo, but also its vital conservation and research projects spanning five continents.

To find out more about Bristol Zoo, visit www.bristolzoo.org.uk or phone 0117 974 7300.

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact Bristol Zoo’s press office:

Lucy King, T: 0117 974 7306 or E: lking@bristolzoo.org.uk

Vanessa Hollier, T: 0117 974 7309 or E: vhollier@bristolzoo.org.uk

Notes to the Editor:

Bristol Zoo Gardens

• Bristol Zoo is open from 9am every day except Christmas Day. 
• Bristol Zoo Gardens is a conservation and education charity and relies on income from visitors and supporters to continue its important work. 
• Bristol Zoo is involved with more than 100 co-ordinated breeding programmes for threatened wildlife species. 
• Itemploys over 150 full and part-time staff to care for the animals and run a successful visitor attraction to support its conservation and education work. 
• Bristol Zoo supports – through finance and skill sharing - 15 projects in the UK and abroad that conserveand protectsome of the world’s most endangered species.
• In 2011 Bristol Zoo celebrated its 175^th birthday. Over that past 175 years, the Zoo has brought six generations of Bristolians closer to wildlife, helped save over 175 species from extinction, established over 30 field conservation and research programmes all over the world, showed 40 millionschool-aged children the wonder of nature and given more than 90 million visitors a wonderful day out.
• In 2010 Bristol Zoo Gardens set up a Conservation Fund to raise vital funds to help care for threatened animals and plants – both in the Zoo and through the conservation work we do in the UK and around the world.
• Bristol Zoo Gardens is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. BIAZA represents more than 90 member collections and promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums.