Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirling is inviting visitors to test whether they have the heart of a lion, with the launch of a new “Breakfast with the Lions” feeding experience.
The paid encounter, offered once a week to a maximum of four people at £200 per person, gives participants the rare chance to tong‑feed six female lions through a reinforced gate.
Visitors will also be given behind-the-scenes access, and breakfast in a safari-style VIP viewing room.
With reinforced glass and only a few feet between visitors and the animals, the park’s newly opened Lion House offers a closer look at the park’s pride, along with a new luxury experience.
It is just one part of the large and long-awaited upgrade to the lion facilities at the safari park.
Hector Muir, managing director at the park, said: "Lions have been at the heart of Blair Drummond Safari Park for more than 50 years, so opening a brand-new lion house is a hugely important moment for us.
“The 'Breakfast with the Lions' experience gives guests the rare opportunity to feed the lions under keeper supervision while learning about their care, training and enrichment as part of their daily routine.
"It's been something that we've been working towards for about two and a half years now, three years.
"It's been a big project for us, and we're very pleased that it's finished, and we're able to share it with everybody."
The lion house features two reinforced glass viewing windows, one looking into the den and another over the outdoor reserve, allowing guests an unusually close and safe view of the animals.
The upgraded lion house is also designed with animal welfare in mind, offering more space than the previous facility.
Will, one of the big cat keepers, said: "Everything we're trying to do in the zoos is give the animal the choice.
"If they want to go outside, they can do that.
"If they want to come inside, they can, they can do pretty much whatever they'd like to do."
The pride currently living at the park consists of six female lions: Libby and her daughters Hope and Faith, as well as Charis and her daughters Isla, and Thistle.
Keepers say the new setup supports essential veterinary care and gives the animals greater freedom, including 24-hour indoor and outdoor access.
Feeding routines have also been adapted to mirror natural behaviour, with one zoo keeper saying: "I prefer to feed them as a carcass feed.
"That's when we feed them a whole cow or a whole horse, and the lions can come and pick away at that over the course of maybe five days, which is a very natural way to feed them that is similar to how they would eat in the wild."
Enrichment is also a priority for the team.
Keepers spend around 30 minutes a day hand-making sacks filled with llama or sheep fur–both collected from animals at the park.
The lions are said to relish biting and shredding these animal scented toys, destroying them in a matter of minutes.
Smell‑based enrichment is also used, with staff experimenting over time to find odours the pride particularly enjoys.
While their domesticated house cat cousins may fawn over scents such as catnip, the zoo keepers at Blair Drummond have found a scent that entice the lions farm more, curry powder.
Peri‑peri seasoning, Chinese five spice and certain women’s perfumes are all also used, with zoo keepers explaining how the lions will roll around in the powder, almost self seasoning themselves in the areas where guests can observe them closely.
To book your slot of “Breakfast with the Lions”, visit here.
The park say the experience aims to offer paying guests a close, controlled encounter with apex predators, while showcasing the park’s investment in modern accommodation, enrichment and education.
For those willing to pay for the privilege, and to sit just a few inches from a pride of six lions at feeding time, it promises one of the more dramatic wildlife experiences currently available in the UK.
Share