Lions at Longleat safari park have been tucking into an Easter surprise of ostrich eggs as part of a scheme to vary their meat diet.

Wardens at Longleat said their gambit of giving the eggs to the pride "worked like a dream" and were gobbled down.

Lions will eat ostrich eggs in the wild, but this was the first time that Longleat had tried them out in captivity.

Deputy Head Warden Ian Turner said: "We are always looking for novel food items and feeding methods for the animals.

"We've trialled all sorts of foods over the years including warming bowls of porridge for the parrots in the winter and fruit lollies for the giraffe in summer.

"We have always struggled a bit with the big cats, however, as menu options are somewhat limited - meat, meat or meat.

"It was a member of the Big Cat team who suggested that we might try ostrich eggs, as they had read up that lions can eat them in the wild. Fortunately for us, we had some eggs that were not being sat on, so we thought we'd give it a go.

"To be honest, it worked a dream. We put a handful of eggs into the enclosure and sat back and watched.

"The females moved in first with Sky practising the snatch and run technique while Nola treated it more like a plaything before she realised that it was actually edible!

"Even Charlie, the alpha male who would normally watch and wait for his dinner, joined in the fun and seemed somewhat amazed at the novel treat.

"Staff even tried their hand at decorating a few. There was no fooling the lions though, as these proved equally delicious as the undecorated versions!"

The lions at Longleat consume more than 40 tonnes of meat each year, the equivalent of two nine-stone people a day.

They are very sociable and hunt together, often sharing prey and helping rear each other's cubs.