AS the country comes to the end of its first week on lockdown, Chester Zoo has broadcast a series of video tours after the centre closed to the public due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Chester Zoo announced on Saturday, March 21, that it would temporarily close following Government advice on social distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19, though its staff would still be coming in to care for the animals.

Today, March 27, the zoo conducted a tour of the "eerily quiet" grounds using Facebook, featuring several popular animals including red pandas, giraffes, penguins, and butterflies.

People could ‘visit’ the zoo live from 10am on Friday morning and be taken on a full day at the zoo experience, visiting various habitats every hour until 4pm.

Mike Jordan, animal and plant director at the zoo, told the PA news agency: "It is eerily quiet because although everything is built with our animals in mind, it is also built with visitors in mind.

Mr Jordan said that, on a busy day, the zoo could have 15,000 people or more visiting at one time and a gorgeous spring day like today is the sort of time when the zoo would be a bustling place.

He added: "It is very unusual to be completely devoid of people but also we are deliberately not really interacting among ourselves. It is quite an isolating experience, what would normally be a very social experience in a zoo."

Mr Jordan explained that the zoo is currently running on two-thirds to three-quarters of the normal amount of staff due to social distancing guidelines.

All of the videos are available to re-watch on the Chester Zoo Facebook page.