STAFF at Marwell Zoo have been carrying out their annual stock to keep track of thousands of different animals from nearly 150 different species.

The zoo has seen the number of species it houses increase from 138 at the end of 2022 to 145 by the end of 2023.

This includes 19 invertebrate species as well as 14 fish, three amphibians, 21 reptiles, 31 birds and 57 mammal species living across the zoo’s 140-acre park.

Hampshire Chronicle: Eleanor Done counting lemurs, during the zoo's annual animal auditEleanor Done counting lemurs, during the zoo's annual animal audit (Image: Paul Collins/PA)

The finalised numbers have to be submitted to Winchester City Council in January each year.

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A Marwell spokeswoman said: “It’s that time of year again and our keepers have been busy filling out Marwell’s annual animal audit which is an important requirement of the charity’s zoo licence.

“The mammoth job of counting and recording every species in the park takes place in zoos around the country at the beginning of each year.

“This year’s audit revealed 52 births throughout 2023, including six blue-faced honeyeater chicks, five-starred agama, four red-tailed laughing thrush chicks, three banteng calves and three Przewalski’s foals.”

New species that have arrived at the zoo in the past year include three Egyptian spiny-tailed lizards, three rough-scaled plated lizards and three Algerian Spur thighed tortoises as well as two rock hyrax which are now all living in Thriving Through Nature, the zoo’s newly refurbished tropical house.

Hampshire Chronicle: A tortoise during the annual animal auditA tortoise during the annual animal audit (Image: Paul Collins/PA)

Other arrivals at the zoo include two caracara, five Brazilian guinea pigs and four bush dogs.

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Rhiannon Wolff, animal keeper for hoofstock, said: “Carrying out the animal audit every year is one of the conditions of the Zoo Licensing Act.

“We have to keep up-to-date records of every individual animal in the zoo: this involves taking note of all births, deaths, imports and exports.”

Bea Cameron, animal keeper for carnivores, added: “We keep track of all our animals on site all year round but the animal audit is a ‘snapshot’ of the animals in the zoo from one year to the next.

“It helps give us an overall look of our year including births, deaths, and new arrivals, and is an important overview of our conservation efforts from one year to the next.”