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Video: Flamingo Land zoo animals visit Leeds school
Pupils at a West Leeds primary school came face to face with some slippery creatures when a zoo came to their classroom.
The children of Holy Family School in Armley met a variety of exotic animals, including a corn snake called Jasper, a giant African land snail and a stick insect.
The vist came after they won an art competition run by I Love West Leeds Festival and Flamingo Land.
Head teacher Peter McQuillen-Strong said the children had been looking forward to the zoo visit since winning the contest with their paintings of hippos.
The arrival of Flamingo Land's zoo manager Ross Snipp and his collection of large tupperware boxes prompted gasps and squeals from the reception class as they gathered in a circle around him.
Lifting a stick insect out of one of the boxes, Mr Snipp asked the children to count its legs before letting it crawl across one pupil's hand, saying: "He's very friendly, trust me."
He said they could touch the giant snail's shell but warned that the crustacean didn't take kindly to being poked.
Whispering so as not to startle the small brown frog resting in his palms, pupil Jairobi McMillan, eight, said: "It's my first time holding a frog. It feels nice, quite soft. It was searcing around in my hand like it was looking for something."
Mr Snipp said: "Frogs and toads are usually considered to be slimy."
And Jairobi replied: "I don't think that at all!"
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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