Western lowland gorilla Gernot is sized up

PENGUINS, tigers and gorillas were just some of the animals that hopped, skipped and jumped on to the scales at London Zoo.

The annual weigh-in sees more than 14,000 animals’ vital statistics noted on a database.

Tactics include “tricking” the Humboldt penguin chicks into walking over scales one-by-one as they line up for their morning feed, and encouraging Bolivian black-capped squirrel monkeys onto the scales with tasty treats.

Zoo chief Angela Ryan said: “Having this data helps to ensure that every animal we care for is healthy, eating well, and growing at the rate they should, a key indicator of health and wellbeing.

A meerkat on the scales

“For example, a growing waistline can help us to detect and monitor pregnancies, which is vitally important as many of the species we care for are threatened in the wild and part of international conservation breeding programmes. London Zoo coordinates the global programme for Sumatran tigers, for example.

“By sharing information with other zoos and conservationists around the world, we can all use this knowledge to better care for the species we’re striving to protect.”