Promising London’s wildest night out, Zoo Nights roars back into town this summer with fun and frolics strictly for adults-only.    With a star-studded cast of gorillas, tigers, giraffes and Komodor Dragons, it’s the perfect way for office workers to relax, unwind and re-live their childhood.  Donning my cheetah shoes, I trotted along with a colleague to join the menagerie.

Office Breaks Zoo Lates

Arriving on a sultry summer night, we enter the Zoo’s epic labyrinth with no real clue where to start. With so much to see and only four hours to fit it all in, a strategic approach is called for. After a mild dispute over the penguins, we select a few of our favourites and head to the rain forests.  (Advance planning ahead of your visit is highly recommended.)

Office Breaks Zoo Lates

Enveloped in a thick fug of jungle steam, the sauna-style conditions give way to reveal foliage filled with armadillos, monkeys and exotic feathered friends. Grabbing a bird’s eye view from the upper balcony, we snap and click like a pair of old twitchers as the wildlife swoops and climbs just a few centimetres away.

Office Breaks Rain Forest Life

Our next rendez-vous is with “Thug” the loutish pygmy hippo who thunders his forty stones around the arena before retreating swiftly from the limelight.  Tuning into the live talk, we discover that pygmy hippos are natives of West Africa and are deemed to have magical powers which include carrying a diamond in their mouths to shine a light through the darkness.

Office Breaks Pygmy Hippo

Craning across at thug’s antics are the giraffes. A frequent sight from Regent’s Park, these seemingly unwieldy animals are surprisingly graceful as they stride across their enclosure to the rapt attention of the crowds.

Office Breaks Zoo Lates

From the lofty to the low-life, the Komodo Dragons are the giants of the lizard world and look as though they could do with a good manicure.   Fiercely intelligent and not to be messed with, the dragons require constant stimulation in terms of new scents and menu options which normally consist of large whole carcasses.

Office Breaks Komodo Dragon Zoo Lates

Giving a wide berth to the Bug Zone’s tarantulas, we head to the undisputed stars of the show, Sumatran tigers Melati and Jae Jae – the proud parents of three strapping cubs born in February this year. While Jae Jae lounges langorously on his rock perch, Melati and the cubs gambole playfully to the delight of the crowds. With the tiger population shrinking from 100,000 in 1900 to less than 4000 today, it’s heartening to note that the zoo is actively fighting to save tigers in Russia and Bangladesh.

Office Breaks Zoo Lates

In need of refreshment, we head to the street food festival where you can sample a pop-dog or savour Malaysian, Italian, British or Thai street food. As we queue, we are joined by a pair of giant lobsters who strangely don’t appear at all out of place. To our right, human wheelbarrows weave their way across the grass while charade-style shapes are thrown at the Silent Disco next door as the big kids get into their stride.

Office Breaks Zoo Lates entertainment

After the animals retire to bed at 9.00pm, you can join in more human entertainment in the form of dance, cabaret and comedy on the Acoustic Stage, Ampitheatre and the Comedy Den.

Office Breaks Carousel Zoo Lates

All too soon, the carnival comes to an end and we head to the exit riding on a wave of childlike euphoria. Zoos have certainly come a long way since my own childhood and it’s an unexpected thrill to experience the wonders of the animal kingdom again.  The only challenge is how to fit it all in.

New for 2018: Live comedy, wild yoga and the ZSL Superheros trail.

Zoo Nights runs every Friday from 1 June – 20 July 2018.
Advance booking essential.

My ticket was provided on a complimentary basis by ZSL London Zoo.