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Associated Press

London Zoo is offering you a chance to sleep with lions

The perfect Christmas present for the nature fan in your life?

LONDON ZOO IS taking bookings for a new safari lodge it is building in the lion enclosure to allow visitors to get a taste of exotic holidays in the centre of the capital.

The “room with a zoo” is located in the Land of the Lions exhibit, which will be home to a breeding group of endangered Asiatic lions when it opens next year.

An overnight stay costs from €525 for two people, including a drink and two-course dinner, breakfast, an overnight stay in a lodge and a tour before the zoo opens.

Emma Taylor, head of product development at the zoo, said in a statement it would be “a fantastic experience unlike any other, sleeping near to our magnificent Asiatic lions”.

Visitors will stay at the Gir Lion Lodge, a collection of nine wooden cabins “within roaring distance” inside the enclosure and surrounded by protective fence.

zoo1 London Zoo London Zoo

The accommodation design is inspired by guest houses close to the lions’ native habitat in the Gir Forest, a protected area of western India which is a safari destination and the only place where Asiatic lions remain in the wild.

Asiatic lions, which are smaller than African lions, were hunted to the brink of extinction before their population recovered to number about 500 in the wild.

London Zoo hopes that its lion exhibit will help its conservation efforts in India, where it plans to help patrolling efforts, train local staff and educate local communities.

© AFP 2015

Read: A hoverboard salesman crashed his hoverboard at Jervis Centre

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    Mute Lyn NicAodha
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    Jun 10th 2013, 7:58 AM

    Hopefully he’ll recover…. Thinking of him and his family.

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    Mute Nickie Walsh
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    Jun 10th 2013, 9:25 AM

    The lad passed away God love him. RIP and condolences to his family.

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    Mute Lucy
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    Jun 10th 2013, 10:27 AM

    Are you sure? Is that not a different case?

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    Mute Nickie Walsh
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    Jun 10th 2013, 10:44 AM

    I heard on 9am news this morning that a 17 yr old lad who was swimming yesterday evening got into difficulty and was brought to hospital where he passed away. News on 2fm

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    Mute Nickie Walsh
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    Jun 10th 2013, 10:45 AM

    They said he passed away this morning but was brought in last night.

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    Mute Stephen Murphy
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    Jun 10th 2013, 8:51 AM

    A picture of the river, where he got into difficulty please and not the hospital. So other people, can avoid the area and hopefully he’ll recover?

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    Mute Diana Duarte
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    Jun 10th 2013, 12:43 PM

    Why to Tralee and not the CUH in cork I wonder?

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    Mute David O'Sullivan
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    Jun 10th 2013, 1:26 PM

    It happened near the border with Kerry, Tralee is closer than CUH

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