London Zoo tots up tigers, tallies tortoises and polls penguins

"You want to count me? Come and count MY TEETH" the Sumatran tiger is probably thinking

It's that time of year again - as sure as night follows day, the week we return to work after the Christmas break is the week London Zoo counts its residents.

So as we plough through thousands of undealt-with emails and reluctantly turn off the out-of-office autoreply, here's a diverting selection of animals to appreciate, along with the comfort that comes with knowing that for yet another year, the zoo hasn't lost a lion or mislaid a marmoset.

A Galapagos giant tortoise - either Priscilla, Polly or Dolly - trains a suspicious eye on the clipboard

The zoo is home to more than 300 different species, from Galapagos giant tortoises and Asiatic lions to Sumatran tigers - all of which are logged as part of the zoo's annual licence requirement.

"Boisterous" is an adjective best applied to tigers securely on the other side of a fence

The zoo said: "During the count, Crispin and Zac, the Zoo's two boisterous Sumatran tiger cubs, quickly turned the register in their enclosure into a toy, dragging it away to gnaw on."

Chapman's zebras Kabibi, Kianga and Spot were added to the tally by zookeeper Becca Keefe, and Kim Carter did the same for the Galapagos gals, giant tortoises Priscilla, Polly and Dolly.

"What? Where? Line up? Who? What?"

Zookeeper Jessica Fryer auditions for the new Dreamworks film studio logo

"Guys, why the long faces?"