I’m rather fond of London Zoo, I have to admit. It’s only a 10 minute walk from where I live, so I often walk past…or even through it via the Regent’s Canal.

As well as acting as a major tourist destination, the zoo has a well-regarded research centre, in the form of the Institute for Zoology. As you might imagine, scientists at the institute concern themselves with matters ecological, behavioural and, um, biodiversity-cal. Surprisingly, they also employ molecular biologists and geneticists to investigate questions of evolutionary biology. I’ll be writing a bit more about the valuable research this team does in the near future, but the zoo’s more public face is all over the news at the moment.

This week, the zoo begins its annual ‘stock taking’, when all 16,000 creatures (over 700 species) are counted and categorised. Meanwhile, a £2 million penguin pool has just been granted approval, offering better facilities for the zoos aquatic avians (and they need them…ask me about the ‘hush-hush penguin incident’ next time you see me in the pub…I promised not to print it). At the same time, free visits for school children are to be axed as a cost saving measure for local government. Oh, and the zoo has an iPhone app out too. Busy times in the zoo’s press office, I’ll wager.

If you’re thinking of visiting the zoo, here’s a tip…forget about the main entrance in Regent’s Park. Instead, catch one of the canal boats from Camden Lock. These stop off at a water gate inside the zoo, allowing you to avoid the queues and arrive in a civilised and unusual manner. It’s only a couple of quid more expensive, and you get a 15 minute boat ride thrown in.