Outside the enclosure, eager visitors jostle for a glimpse of the rare Asiatic lions Sahee and Sonika, Hertfordshire Zoo’s newest residents. The beasts yawn imperiously in the sun, every twitch of their tails sparking an excited murmur.
But when Aaron, Tyler and Cam Whitnall are spotted, the animals are instantly forgotten. The stars of children’s BBC programme One Zoo Three, are tenderly, but relentlessly, mobbed. “We got up at 5am to drive here,” explains one delighted, if bleary-eyed dad. “My daughter just loves you.”
