Counting by numbers, two by two at West Midland Safari Park

Each year it, along with other zoos and wildlife parks across the country, are duty bound to count up and record their creatures great and small.

It would be a simple job if the animals could be persuaded to line up two-by-two.

But when you have an ever moving mass it can become a thankless task.

Workers at the park, which sits alongside the Severn Valley Railway near Bewdley, have been taking to jeeps, embarking on the stock-take on foot or even crawling on hands and knees.

Each are armed with a clipboard, ticking off the animals as part of an exercise that ensures numbers at zoos and parks are monitored.

As part of the animal count all birds, reptiles and insects including cockroaches and ants have to be noted down although staff are allowed to count the larger creatures such as the lions and rhinos from a suitable distance to ensure their own safety.

Staff have to deal with many creatures camouflaged in the trees or hidden under the cover of darkness.

Once collected the figures are sent off to Wyre Forest District Council which then grants the park its licence.

The statistics are also an indicator for the attraction's popularity and the success of breeding and conservation programmes.

The exercise is being replicated at other attractions in our region, including Dudley Zoo and Chester Zoo.

Both have well over 1,500 animals, meaning it is all hands on deck to complete the audit within the week.