A New Malden man spent the Bank Holiday weekend semi-naked and being gawked at by thousands of visitors to London Zoo.

But far from being an illegal flasher hell-bent on 15 seconds of stardom, 19-year-old Simon Spiro was taking part in a new exhibit called The Human Zoo.

He was one of eight people who were accepted to take part in the exhibit, located on the world-famous Bear Mountain.

Speaking before the event, he said: "I'm a veterinary student so the idea of working for a zoo was something that appealed to me.

"I'm not worried by the fact it might be cold and rainy. I've brought Pocket Scrabble in case we're bored.

"I thought it would be fun and interesting because I'm an outdoorsy kind of person."

Simon is a second year student at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and said he is fascinated by animals and the need to conserve them and address the threats they face.

Simon told the zoo he hoped the experiment will attract people to the zoo and inspire them to take an interest in animal conservation and natural history.

He also said he was looking forward to a weekend in the rain getting back to nature.

The zoo set up the exhibit, which ran from Friday to Monday, to show human beings in their previously natural environment and to demonstrate their place in the ecosystem.

A spokesman for the zoo said: "We have set up this exhibit to highlight the spread of man as a plague species and to communicate the importance of man's place in the planet's ecosystem."

Through the weekend, except when they were allowed home in the evenings, the volunteers wore fig leaves and were kept entertained with music, arts and games.

drankin@london.newsquest.co.uk