The poll, carried out by BIAZA, the professional body representing British and Irish zoos and aquariums, has revealed the most commonly adopted animals by zoo visitors in 2012.
The survey compared the top three adopted animals from 50 BIAZA zoos across the UK and Ireland.
Among the most popular animal adoptions were penguins, tigers, giraffes, otters and lemurs. But meerkats claimed the top spot, with 20 out of 50 zoos naming the furry creature as one of their top three animal adoptions.
Penguins are the second most popular, making it to the top three list at 14 zoos, and tigers came in third with 9 top three mentions.
Dr Miranda Stevenson, Executive Director of BIAZA, said: “Animal adoptions are a great way for people to make a contribution towards the vital conservation, breeding and research work carried out by zoos. They also make unique gifts, especially for animal lovers or for someone who has everything. And at this time of year, they are a very novel Valentine’s Day present!”
The results of the survey also showed the least popular animal species were reptiles, smaller birds and lesser known small mammals.
Dr Stevenson added: “Many species get overlooked because others are better known or perceived as being ‘cuter’. But many of the less frequently adopted animals are no less important. We hope this Valentine’s Day zoo visitors will look at adopting an animal at one of our zoos and perhaps one that needs a little more love.”
