Extra special stocktake of zoo animals begins
The largest zoo in the UK has begun its annual stocktake across its enclosures.
Each animal from the 245 different species at Whipsnade Zoo must be logged as part of their yearly census, which helps inform global conservation breeding programmes.
Hayley Jakeman, animal operations manager at the Bedfordshire zoo, said that the count this year was "extra special" as it included a last minute addition of a baby white rhino born on New Year's Day.
This latest arrival joins two reticulated giraffe calves, Hattie the red panda cub and Ivor the domestic Bactrian camel, all born in 2025.
Whipsnade is set across about 600 acres atop the Dunstable Downs and is home to more than 11,000 animals.
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