KEEPERS at the Cotswold Wildlife Park have completed one of the most important tasks of the year – working out how many animals they have.

The annual census at the park, near Burford, puts a figure on every creature on the 160 acre site – from the smallest bug to the biggest of big cats.

And the park this week revealed this year’s total – 2,094 animals – plus 80,000 leaf-cutter ants.

As one of the world’s leading breeding zoos, with globally important collections of rare and endangered animals, it is essential staff know exactly how many beasts they have.

Park curator Jamie Craig said: “People don’t realise what goes on behind the scenes, but this is a really important part of what we do.

“We need to keep tabs on populations to see if they’ve increased. And if they’ve decreased we need to know why.

“We also need to know about genetic information, to see which animals are related. Without accurate monitoring we could end up with inbreeding.

“We know exactly how many lions, tigers or zebra we have, and don’t suddenly lose or gain animals. But it does get trickier in the tropical house where we have big flocks of birds.

“Many areas are naturally-planted and we don’t like checking nests every day as it’s disruptive, so once a year it’s important to do it properly. Likewise for insects and reptiles.”

This year’s total was boosted by a number of new arrivals, including three jaguarundi kittens, baby peccaries, and four young lemurs.

And while they always know exactly how many large animals they have, numbers do change, especially among the park’s more diminutive residents.

“The insects are the biggest breeders,” said Jamie. “The leaf cutter ants, for example, are always breeding – and we can’t count them all. The size of colonies can change by the end of each day. So with some of the insects we have to just estimate the size of the colony. The spiny mice are also prolific breeders.

“The larger animals and birds are seasonal, with numbers rising by one or two at a time, which makes them easier to count.”

But keepers have been caught out by some of the more wily animal guests.

Jamie said: “We like to keep our animals in natural environments and they make good hiding places.

“The birds, especially, can catch us out. Our hammerkops, for example, build large elaborate nests in their enclosure, and we discovered one we didn’t know we had – and they are fairly big birds.

“An anaconda surprised us too. They are unusual for snakes in that they give birth to live young – and we found three snakes hidden under bark chips.

“That was a very welcome surprise!”

thughes@oxfordmail.co.uk