FROM the tiniest insect to the largest beast, every animal, bird and grub has been recorded as part of a Winchester audit.

Keepers at Marwell Wildlife, in Colden Common, have been busy tallying up every creature great and small as part of the zoo’s annual audit.

In one of the more interesting stock-takes, the register shows how many animals have been born or died there, or been moved or out – all within the last 12 months.

Every zoo must undertake the exercise and produce a report as part of its licence.

The site’s most popular attractions over the last year include a critically-endangered Amur leopard cub and a mob of meerkat pups.

Visitors have also welcomed penguin chicks, scimitar-horned oryx calves as well as silvery marmosets and cotton-top tamarins – both different types of New World monkeys.

Animal registrar, Debbie Pearson, said: “It is a full-time job trying to keep track of all of the animals over the course of the year, particularly the larger groups of small animals and birds.

“We have had some new arrivals since the last count, so It’s been lovely to see them settling into the collection”.

Although the audit is undertaken once a year, zookeepers keep regular track of the animals, the record of which will be published at the end of January.

This year has seen around 2,000 animals across 143 species recorded.