Up you come: Jae Jae takes the bait
Have I grown? He stretches up to his full 6ft 6ins
Today saw the start of the annual weigh-in, with details of the health and wellbeing of more than 19,000 creatures recorded using tape measures and scales, to be shared with zoos across the world keeping tabs on endangered species.
Five-year-old Jae Jae ignored the first two attempts to tantalise him with hunks of meat into stretching up so that the length of his body could be measured. He finally took the third piece of bait and the measurement was duly noted — about 6ft 6ins.
Becky the bull frogPaul Kybett, who looks after the tigers at London Zoo, said: “Jae Jae is quite a precocious boy. He’s not very friendly. He’s fully grown but we haven’t actually measured him in the past. If we can do this with Jae Jae, when he has cubs we will be able to do it with them.”
Miranda the waxy monkey frogAmong the other animals being assessed was Becky the bullfrog — she tried to leap out of the electrical scales when she was weighed at 14oz.
Rebecca the royal python, 21oz, was weighed using old-fashioned scales, and Miranda the waxy monkey frog, named today after your correspondent, was weighed in at 1½oz using a special spoon.
Rebecca the royal pythonTammy the tamandua, a tree anteater, also had to be tempted with food before weighing in at 1st 1lb.
Tammy the anteaterThe camels were directed by keepers holding a target on to the scales to keep them “focused” and stop them being aggressive. Ghengis weighed 1,100lb and Noemie 1,380lb.
Noemie the camel has shed her winter coat and weighs in at 1,380lbThe keepers said both had lost weight since their last go on the scales, thanks to having shed their winter coats. The measurements will be recorded into the Zoological Information Management System.
