The animals went in one by one... auction room serves up a veritable zoo

You're not looking at a case of daylight robbery at the zoo. This was the bizarre scene as a collection of 250 stuffed animals was carried into an auction rooms for sale later this month.

Zoo queue: A giant tortoise and friends are carried by auction staff

Most of the creatures, which include a giant tortoise, a crocodile, a baboon, a lion, a zebra and a tiger, were gathered together by a Victorian collector.

Since 1965 they have been part of the Brading Experience, a museum on the Isle of Wight. But the attraction has now closed and so the animals are to go under the hammer at Duke's salerooms in Dorchester, Dorset.

Some - such as the tiger, which is preserved for ever, growling in mid-leap - are expected to sell for thousands. Other examples are less desirable and could go for a few pounds each.

The animals also include a deer, hyena, komodo dragon and various birds, some arranged in striking poses like the tiger and others in more traditional glass cases. The auction will take place on April 13.

Wounded pride? The king of the jungle gets a helping hand

In black and white: Up close and personal with a zebra

This way up: A regal-looking stag is brought into the auction rooms

Crouching auctioneer, leaping tiger: The stuffed big cat looks alive