More than 10,000 animals have jumped on the scales in the annual weigh-in at the UK's largest zoo. From light-as-a-feather wolf spiders to Ming Jung the 4,150kg Asian elephant, staff at Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable in Bedfordshire have been kept busy carrying out the animal assessment.
Zookeepers were charged with gently coaxing animals of all sizes, including aardvarks, rhinos and spiders, to step onto the scales. One of the zoo’s larger residents, 26-year-old greater one-horned rhinoceros Beluki, stepped onto an industrial-sized weight scale after keepers enticed her with fresh vegetables.
The zoo’s endangered Asian elephant Ming Jung was offered his favourite healthy snacks to clamber on the scale. Once there, it was revealed that the 14-year-old weighs 4,150kg.
