Every animal, from mammals and birds to fish and invertebrates, are being counted in our Annual Stocktake, as our zookeepers kick off ZSL's - our international conservation charity - 200th anniversary.
With 2025 proving to be a bumper year for births at our conservation Zoo, the count features precious additions to global conservation breeding programmes - the most recent being a newborn Southern white rhino calf, born on New Year's Eve. The baby boy, who is yet to be named, was born to mum Jaseera and dad Sizzle and brings the conservation zoo’s total to ten white rhinos.
This latest arrival joins two endangered reticulated giraffe calves, Hattie the red panda cub and Ivor the domestic Bactrian camel, all born in 2025.
The tally also reflects important animal moves, with some group sizes adjusted as animals moved as part of international conservation projects. In April, Asian elephants Karishma and her daughter Beth moved to Chester Zoo as part of the European breeding programme, and more moves will take place this year to support a genetically diverse insurance population of endangered species in zoos.
After surveys confirmed the boxer pupfish, a fish species endemic to Mexico, are likely now extinct-in-the-wild, Whipsnade Zoo transported boxer pupfish and eggs to Vienna Zoo in 2025, to bolster the insurance population being cared for in zoos and save the species from the brink of extinction.
ZSL, the charity that runs our conservation Zoo, has been contributing to the global understanding of wildlife for 200 years – having been founded to advance our scientific understanding of animals. The annual animal count at Whipsnade Zoo is a requirement of our license, but also a vital tool for our contribution to conservation breeding programmes.
Following the count, our conservation Zoo will share the final numbers with zoos and aquariums around the world via Species360, an international database which helps conservationists to manage important breeding programmes for endangered species.