Would you spend a night with lions in Zoo? It’s not a joke. And, moreover, you’ll have to pay for that. London Zoo began 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.
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.
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.
An overnight stay costs between 378 Pounds ($568 euros) and 558 Pounds for two people, including a drink and two-course dinner, breakfast, an overnight stay in a lodge and a tour before the zoo opens. Rawr!!!