Lions and other foreign wild animals are certainly not what people expect to see unless in a zoo, yet amazingly for a 600 years they were a common sight at the Tower of London, roaming the grounds. The bizarre tradition of collecting exotic animals began in medieval times, when Kings and Queens exchanged strange beasts as regal gifts.
Now some of the most popular animals have been recreated for an exhibition called Royal Beast. Various animals have been placed around the Tower where they would have been situated originally - these symbolic lions, near the tower named after them by King John, who was extremely proud that he could breed them, a heraldic tradition of our Royals, here at the Tower of London.