Monarto Zoo Lions 360 attraction gives you an incredible view of hungry big cats

MONARTO Zoo has unveiled its amazing new tourist attraction — the ability to get so close to eight hungry lionesses that you can feel their breath.

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SOUTH Australia has a new top tourist attraction and an Australia-first, but only for those who do not have a heart condition or a fear of being eaten alive.

Monarto Zoo will host its first visitors to its Lions 360 enclosure this Sunday with hundreds of advance ticket sales worth $60 each even before the first roar is heard.

A very sturdy glass and steel cage will protect visitors from eight lionesses, lured by the smell of fresh meat. For an extra $35 visitors can feed the animals.

“Here, girls,” calls minder Anna Bennet as if with a tin of catfood for dinner.

The view from the Lions 360 exhibit launched today at Monarto Zoo. Picture: Calum Robertson

A rare opportunity to be drenched in drool from a big cat — and survive! Picture: Calum Robertson

Check out the size of those paws. Picture: Calum Robertson

Sophie Hueppauff inside the new Lions 360 exhibit. Picture: Calum Robertson

Regional Development Minister Geoff Brock feeds a lion in the new Lions 360 exhibit. Picture: Calum Robertson

The State Government provided $360,000 funding for the centre, Zoos SA’s $720,000, the Federal Government $350,000 and ElectraNet $300,000.

Zoos SA chief executive Elaine Bensted said safety-first had been the mantra for the exhibition, which in some places puts the pack within arms’ reach of visitors.

“Lions 360 is a truly hair-raising experience with visitors able to walk through a tunnel and emerge in the heart of the lions’ den, putting you within clawing range of one of Australia’s largest lion prides in absolute safety,’’ she said.

Monarto Zoo attracts over 130,000 visitors a year and the new exhibit is expected to increase visitors by 3000 annually.

Majesty of Monarto

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The return on the $1.7 million investment will be $1 million in the region annually.

Regional Development Minister Geoff Brock said Monarto was now home to the only 360-degree lion encounter in Australia.

The opening is a much-needed dose of good news for Zoos SA, which last week mourned the death of Sumatran tiger Tuan.

He was the sixth major zoo attraction to die this year.

In January, 34-year-old orang-utan Karta died hours after giving birth to a stillborn baby.

In June, Australia’s oldest Sumatran tiger, Kemiri, died at the zoo, aged 22, and in the same month, Australia’s only sloth, Miss C, died aged 43.

Susie the hippopotamus died in July and lioness Yizi, aged 16, died tragically during a routine check-up in September after undergoing a medical procedure to investigate why she was growing a mane.

However, the zoo has also celebrated the birth of cheetahs, hyenas, meerkats and its rapidly growing rhino calf Tundu.