LONDON (AP) — Staff at London Zoo got the measure of giant gorillas, plump penguins and skinny stick insects at the zoo’s annual animal weigh-in on Thursday.
Zookeepers tempted squirrel monkeys onto scales with treats, totted up tarantulas and used a curry-scented measuring stick to coax Sumatran tigers to stretch out.
Staff at the zoo, which is home to some 14,000 animals, will take several days to weigh and measure every mammal, bird, reptile, fish and invertebrate in its care. The results go into a database that is shared with zoos around the world.
“We record the vital statistics of every animal at the zoo — from the tallest giraffe to the tiniest tadpole,” said Angela Ryan, the facility’s head of zoological operations.
Ryan said an animal’s weight is vital information that can reveal whether creatures are healthy, and even which are pregnant.
A Squirrel monkey is tempted onto a set of scales to be weighed during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A Squirrel monkey is weighed and has their microchip scanned during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A Sumatran tiger investigates a measuring stick during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A family of Sumatran tigers groom each other during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A family of Sumatran tigers groom each other during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A keeper inspects a Tirachoidea Stick Insect during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
Frank the Meerkat is weighed during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A meerkat is weighed during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (James Manning/PA via AP) 
Frank the Meerkat is weighed during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
An Oriental Small Clawed Otter yawns during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
Humboldt penguins queue up to be weighed during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
Humboldt penguins swim during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A keeper is silhouetted as he meaures a Tirachoidea Stick Insect during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A keeper meaures a Tirachoidea Stick Insect during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
A Sumatran tiger investigates a measuring stick during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
Katie a Mexican Redknee Tarantula is weighed during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 
An Asian Small Clawed Otter yawns during London Zoo’s Annual Weigh In, in London, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. The Annual Weigh In is a chance for keepers at the conservation zoo to make sure the information they’ve recorded is up-to-date and accurate, with each measurement then added to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), a database shared with zoos all over the world that helps zookeepers to compare important information on thousands of threatened species. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“We have critically endangered animals here,” she said. “It’s absolutely vital that we are managing them, managing their health, that we’re breeding them and breeding them well and we’re having healthy offspring that can breed on again.”
