Drusillas Park’s annual New Year stock take got underway this week, as staff at the Park commenced the mammoth task of counting each and every animal in the zoo’s collection.
Auditor Garsin Cheung from Surrey based Chartered Accountants, Wilkins Kennedy, was on site to verify the numbers and oversee the errand, along with Zoo Manager, Sue Woodgate.
The annual count is one of the biggest jobs of the zoo calendar and is undertaken by keepers around the country at this time of year. It is completed as part of compliance with zoo legislation, which requires zoos and aquariums to keep precise records of every animal birth, death, arrival and departure.
Of course, the keepers at Drusillas are fully aware of how many animals they have in their care, especially the larger species such as the penguins, lemurs and otters. However, the annual stock take provides an opportunity to ensure that all the records are up to date and reflect accurately the number of residents at the zoo.
With approximately 800 individual animals made up of 106 different species, the keepers have their work cut out and the process can take several days. Counting some of the smaller creatures also takes a great deal of patience and plenty of double-checking!
One job none of the keepers volunteer for is checking the insect populations, which can run into the hundreds. Accurately recording the number of black rats at the zoo can also prove problematic, with the quick moving rodents refusing to stay still for long enough to be counted. In these cases, it would be virtually impossible to count every single animal. Instead the keepers at Drusillas provide an estimate of the group based on its size and their knowledge of the colony.
Once completed, this information is submitted to a central database and used by organisations such as the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) to manage conservation. The inventories are also available to local authorities who issue and renew the licences for zoos and aquariums
ENDS ----------
For more information please contact:
Claire Peters
Head of Public Relations
Drusillas Park
Tel: 01323 874112 Fax: 01323 874101
Email: claire.peters@drusillas.co.uk
Photo: Zoo Manager, Sue Woodgate and Garsin Cheung counting the llamas and alpacas
About Drusillas Park
Drusillas Park in Alfriston, East Sussex is a small zoo where you can get nose to nose with nature. There are over 100 animal species in naturalistic environments including meerkats, penguins, monkeys, otters, bats, snakes and lemurs. For more information visit www.drusillas.co.uk
Directions – Drusillas (postcode BN26 5QS) is situated just off the A27 at Alfriston, approximately 7 miles from Eastbourne and 15 miles from Brighton.