PREDATORS will be on the prowl at Longleat Safari Park this Easter as their new animatronics feature opens next weekend (March 24).

Visitors will have the chance to come face to face with some of the planet’s greatest predators including everything from a life-sized hunting great white shark to a super-sized Venus fly trap.

The exhibition designers have created a series of 14 scenes featuring a collection of moving models including a deep sea anglerfish, a dive-bombing harpy eagle with a seven-metre wingspan, a polar bear, a giant 12-metre-long saltwater crocodile, a Komodo dragon and a three-metre-tall spitting cobra.

One of the scenes features a larger than life lion looking down from a rock ready to steal a zebra carcass from a pack of hyenas. The scene comes complete with authentic roars, yips and snarls.

Another portrays a giant red-backed shrike, also known as the butcher bird, sitting on a thorn bush where its victims, a lizard, ladybird, beetle and a grasshopper are all impaled on spikes.

Alongside modern day carnivores the new attraction features prehistoric predators with a magnificent sabre tooth cat and a 10 metre long Baryonyx dinosaur brought thrillingly back to life.

Longleat's Steve Mytton said: “The aim of the new feature is to make each of the predators as authentic and interactive as possible.

“Our team of designers and model makers have paid particular attention to the animals’ eyes, skin, fur, feathers and scales.

“Although some of the models are significantly larger than life we still wanted them to look as realistic as possible and the sheer scale of the designs reveals their true predator power."

The predators exhibition will run from March 24 until September 3. For more information and to book visit www.longleat.co.uk/tickets or call 01985 844400.