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In Pictures: Annual weigh-in sees Whipsnade Zoo residents step up to the scales

Scarlet macaws during the annual weigh-in at the Bedfordshire attraction (Steve Parsons/PA)
Scarlet macaws during the annual weigh-in at the Bedfordshire attraction (Steve Parsons/PA)
PA Wire

Penguins meerkats, rhinoceros and reindeer all lined up for the annual weigh-in at Whipsnade Zoo

The yearly check-up records the vital statistics of all creatures great and small at the attraction in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.

Northern rockhopper penguins gather round keeper Claire McSweeney (Steve Parsons/PA)

A panther chameleon in no rush for its check-up (Steve Parsons/PA)

One slender-tailed meerkat in an obliging mood (Steve Parsons/PA)

A zookeeper uses a ruler to measure a postman butterfly (Steve Parsons/PA)

The vital statistics are recorded as a way of keeping track of the health and wellbeing of the 9,500 animals at the conservation zoo.

The animals’ weights and measurements are recorded in a database called the Zoological Information Management System.

It helps zookeepers around the world compare important information on thousands of endangered species.

Scarlet macaws assemble with keeper Liz Brown (Steve Parsons/PA)

Beluki, a greater one-horned rhinoceros, stands alongside keeper Phil Curzon (Steve Parsons/PA)

Keepers Christina Finch and Danielle Hearne with Heidi the reindeer (Steve Parsons/PA)

Ring-tailed lemurs assist with the weigh-in (Steve Parsons/PA)

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