Lego creatures on display at Chester Zoo

Meticulously constructed by expert master-builders using 661,042 pieces of the popular creative toy – the family friendly exhibition, which closes on April 30, will allow the people to get closer than ever before to some of the planet’s greatest hunters.

It is the first time the zoo has staged such an exhibition.

Visitors will discover the world's biggest felines – including fully-sized lions, cheetahs, tigers, jaguars – on a journey through the zoo’s exhibition gardens.

They will also see recreations of snow leopards, African and clouded leopards, a family of caracals and a majestic lynx.

An additional trail through the zoo will also reveal a host of miniature Lego brick species, from orangutans and monkeys to zebras, red pandas, bears and penguins.

As a conservation and education charity, zoo experts hope the exhibition will help to raise further awareness of the threats the faced by the species in the wild.

Families inspired by the LEGO brick spectacle will be able to join a team of Zoo Rangers to discover more about big cats, have a go at creating their own animal models, then come face-to-face with the real animals across the zoo’s 125 acres of habitats.

Chester Zoo conservationists care for rare Asiatic lions, South American jaguars, North African cheetahs and Sumatran tigers as part of conservation breeding programmes for the threatened species.

Jon Turley, Head of Guest Experience at Chester Zoo, said: "Creating from LEGO bricks is a much-loved family pastime, but not many of us have ever created anything like this.

"Our African leopard alone, with its distinctive clusters of black spots, has been built from more than 100,000 bricks.

"We hope families will also get hands on in our LEGO brick building sessions, as well as taking a chance to see the real thing and connect with nature’s most magnificent cats."

The exhibition has been created for the zoo by Bright Bricks.

Entry is free with normal zoo admission.