If you are beginning to feel the cold this winter spare a thought for some of the exotic animals residing at Battersea Park Children's Zoo.

As temperatures start to drop below 0C, a host of little tropical creatures will be battening down the hatches to avoid the cold, no doubt yearning for the heat of their natural habitats.

But luckily animals such as the asian short-clawed otters, meerkats, emperor tamarins and ring-tailed lemurs have an army of caring handlers to stop them feeling chilly.

Anita Halligan, animal manager at the zoo, said: "Most of the animals have radiators in their living areas, some even heated floors.

"The ring-tailed lemurs sit under their spotlights and use their tail like a scarf to keep warm.

"The otters like to make their own straw beds, they actually prefer to do it themselves rather than let us do it.

"At the moment all the animals are fine, they either don't mind the cold or have lots of ways to keep warm, but they hate the snow and the meerkats refuse to come out at all."

The zoo is open from 10am- 4.30pm. For more information call 020 7924 5826.