London Zoo animal audit: World's most adorable bookkeeping

Why is this owl on a scale? Because of science.

Tracking the growth of captive animals isn't just about making sure the captive animals are well taken care of. It's also an important part of understanding animal life cycles and how life in captivity differs from life in the wild. Data on millions of animals is stored in the Zoological Information Management System—a database used by zookeepers, aquarium officials, and researchers. In order to have that database, though, zoos and aquariums must do annual inventories of their charges—measuring height and weight, and recording data on details like egg-laying patterns. And this is where the cute comes in.

The Guardian has a slideshow of images taken last week during the London Zoo's animal inventory. If you've ever wanted to see somebody stretch a tape measure around a penguin's chubby belly, or coo over meerkats climbing around a scale, this is your chance.

See the rest of the photos

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

Maggie goes places and talks to people. Find out where she'll be speaking next.

MORE: adorable • animals • Science • zoos

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Bucket

“Do you like our owl?”
- Quiche de Resistance
  
  Everyone is fond of owls.
  - SoItBegins
    
    O RLY?
Quiche de Resistance

If you’ve ever wanted to see somebody stretch a tape measure around a penguin’s chubby…
GO ON

belly…

NEVERMIND
GyroMagician

I heard a rumour the Essex Lion escaped from the Zoo as it was embarrassed about its weight.
http://profiles.google.com/gtbear gt bear

you obviously love owls.

i was hoping to see bookkeeping and zookeeping in the same sentence.
noah django

please, *somebody* is a bit sensitive.
Moritz Fernando

Owls for bookkeeping? or zookeeping