london zoo
The tourist attraction is "not pissing around".
Ticket sales are vital for animal upkeep and conservation, zoos say. So is it time they reopen?
Despite the coronavirus meaning that zoos are closed to the public, the animals of course still need looking after - and the zookeepers at ZSL London Zoo have been documenting it all in a lockdown video diary as they keep the animals fed and entertained.
We round up the week in cheerful news, featuring weigh-in day at the zoo, the World Tango Championships, a giant beehive and a flying mattress spectacle.
London Zoo, Berlin Zoo and Stirling's Blair Drummond Safari Park have been treating their residents with Easter eggs filled with crickets, as well as colourful hard-boiled eggs. A family-run farm on the German-Swiss border has been colouring 16,000 eggs an hour to satisfy demand over the Easter holidays.
As part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), a male Sumatran tiger, Asim, was transferred from Denmark to be a mate for London Zoo's resident female tiger, Melati. The aim of the programme is to save the species from extinction.
Zookeepers have started the week-long task of counting the almost 20,000 animals at the zoo. London Zoo is home to almost 700 species and the data will be used by conservation and breeding programmes around the world.
From an advent calendar filled with Brussel sprouts to breakfast served in a Christmas stocking, animals at London Zoo got a taste of their own festive treats on 20 December, in the run-up to the holidays.
With Christmas season in full-swing, London Zoo has set up a light display of animals to see once their 19,000 residents go to sleep. While some nocturnal animals may be spotted, a Zoo spokesperson has reassured that the light’s don’t bother any of the residents.
Four meerkats are presumed dead.