FROM Asha the Asiatic lioness to Zeb the black and white ruffed lemur, every animal at Dudley Zoo is being counted as keepers begin the yearly stocktake.

The annual audit forms part of the licensing requirements of all UK zoos and wildlife parks and involves keepers totting up every invertebrate, bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian across the 40-acre site.

There's also a new head to count following the birth of a new baby gelada baboon on December 21.

The youngster is the second baby for 11-year-old Addis, who is also mum to Billie, aged three.

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Visitors can already spot the youngster (pictured above) closely tucked up to mum in their half-acre natural hillside enclosure on the lower zoo site.

Primate keeper, Jade Reddall, said: “We’re delighted that the latest addition to our Baboons on the Bank arrived just in time to be officially counted in this year’s census."

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Curator Richard Brown added: “We have more than 1,600 animals on site and 260 different species, ranging from great apes to the tiniest medicinal leeches in our Castle Creatures exhibit.

“However this start of year task is really just a confirmation exercise to make sure our yearly inventory tallies with the results, as our staff know how many animals they care for on on a day-to-day basis.”

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Following the census count, which usually takes a week to complete, the numbers are collated and inputted into the Zoological Information Management System – a worldwide comprehensive database of animal health and well-being, by the zoo's registrar and research co-ordinator Dr David Beeston, who also submits a report to the local authority.

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