Zookeepers in Dublin Zoo are coming to the end of their annual animal audit.
Head count or headache? Zookeeper Eddie O'Brien is in charge of the yearly count of animals that takes place in Dublin Zoo.
While the bigger animals may be easy to spot, putting an exact figure on the number of Sulawesi-crested macaques or Chilean flamingoes take more time.
Dublin Zoo conducts regular animal counts. The results from this annual inventory is submitted to an international database which gathers information about animals held in zoos around the world. It also assists ongoing conservation work by zoos worldwide,
We may move on some animals to other zoos, to help build up numbers in other zoos.
Many counts have to be done from a distance as the wide variety of animals in Dublin Zoo means that some are naturally aggressive. This does not apply to the ring-tailed lemurs however, who are happy to get up close and personal if the right incentive is offered,
These ring-tailed lemurs...will do anything for a banana.
The last count yielded a result of 632 living specimens at Dublin Zoo.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 16 January 2008. The reporter is Philip Bromwell.
