Play with baby lions/tigers/etc at a UK zoo?

Got to play with some white lion cubs at Zion Wildlife Park in NZ, but from behind the bars.

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:D Unfortunately don't know of anywhere in the UK.

I know Noahs Ark Farm near Clevedon does zoo keeper experiences, but not sure if that involves lions.
 
My girlfriend was a zoo keeper for the day at London Zoo but you don't get to cuddle lions. You do get to feed tigers (through bars), cuddle lemurs, feed penguins etc so a fair amount. 'Tis expensive though, she got it as a present but I think it's about £120.
 
roccles said:
When you see photos of people petting tigers they are usually chained up and drugged to the eye balls (the tigers not the people!) i have never heard of this in the UK it's usually somewhere like Thailand.
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I think I'd want to be drugged up to the eyeballs to have lion and tiger cubs running loose around me. :eek:
 
Stuff said:
But dogs maul children/babies too.. We don't know the thinking of any animal, and as tame/domesticated as they may seem, can you ever fully trust any animal?
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Hence the difference between domesticated and tamed...

I can fully trust my dog, but I wouldn't trust any others. I certainly wouldn't trust a caged wild carnivore, cub or not.
 
MeEsH BaKkA said:
Im willing to bet that a Staffie sized tiger cub is hardly the safest thing to pet.
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I'd rather let my kids play with a staffie sized tiger cub than a staffie tbh - the more dangerous instincts tend to develop in adolescence (regardless of whether they've been brought up in the wild or not) they are also easier to manage physically (as a gross generalisation) at that size than a fully adult staffie if they do misbehave. I'd be very wary of either unless I knew the animal in question however.
 
I've spooned a full grown tiger, true story. This was in Thailand however, so afraid I can't help you with your hunt in the UK!

Also played with baby ones too, same place.
 
Russinating said:
I think it's about £120.
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It's £280 for the full day.

There won't be anywhere you'll get to 'play' with animals, even keepers don't do that because any zoo or keeper that has respect for the work it does tries to encourage wild instinct in their animals.

Feeding and keeper experiences will be all you'll get in the UK.
 
Stuffs ignorance is quite shocking really.

They are not pets there solely for your pleasure. Thinking it would be perfectly fine and not do any harm to let cubs become completely acclimatized to humans, therefore ensuring they remain captive their entire lives is a worrying mentality to have.

Also, caging an animal doesn't make it domesticated.
 
Skeeter said:
Stuffs ignorance is quite shocking really.

They are not pets there solely for your pleasure. Thinking it would be perfectly fine and not do any harm to let cubs become completely acclimatized to humans, therefore ensuring they remain captive their entire lives is a worrying mentality to have.

Also, caging an animal doesn't make it domesticated.
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Most people aren't animal psychologists to be fair.
 
Did this with Lion, Tiger and Cheetah cubs/kittens and an adult Cheetah & Rhino in Kenya where Health and Safety is a truly foreign concept :D
 
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