[Animals]Would you spend £2,000 to feed a tiger at the zoo?

[Maheso]

Visitors to Edinburgh Zoo are being given the chance to feed a tiger - if they are brave enough and have a spare £2,000.

The park is the latest Scottish attraction to offer highly-priced private experiences that only money can buy.

High-end afternoon teas and tours of never-seen-before areas were offered for £150 at Balmoral Castle last year, selling out in 24 hours.

But Edinburgh Zoo has taken it to the next level to raise funds for its upkeep.

The hefty price for the Build Your Own Wild Experience includes lunch, a coffee and cake voucher, 30-minute sessions with four different animals and their keepers and the rest of the day to roam about the zoo.

Extra adults on the tour cost an additional £1,000 and children £500.

Participants can feed the zoo's two Sumatran tigers - Dharma, seven, and eight-year-old Lucu - through a wire mesh fence from an area not accessible to the public.

The animals tug the meat, which is predominantly beef, deer, rabbit and horse, from a large pair of tongs.

"You don't get to hand feed the tigers obviously," said Lindsay Ross, Edinburgh Zoo's events and experiences manager.

"You use tongs, which are similar to a litter pick and it's bits of meat from a bucket.

"You go to where people wouldn't be allowed because we have multiple stand off areas before the last fence but you go with the keeper so its supervised to make sure nobody puts fingers through the fence."

She insisted the whole experience was secure and visitors would still be outside the main enclosure.

"It's amazing, they are so majestic up close. It's amazing just the size of their heads and things."

During the tour, visitors can also feed Asiatic lions Bindee, eight, and Jayendra, 15.

The bespoke tours include meeting four different species of animals of your choice.

The tours for two also see visitors being able to go into some cages to stroke or feed the animals.

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyn4jjqx30o