[bbfan1991]

Santa Claus has braved the tiger enclosure at Australia Zoo in order to give the big cats their Christmas presents.

The adventurous Kris Kringle produced a sackful of edible gifts for Sumatran tigers Bashii and Sunita as a feeding time treat.

Australia Zoo's head of tigers Giles Clark later expressed delight at how the festive display had turned out.

"From the moment Santa entered the Tiger Temple, Bashii was ready to pounce on the big bag of gifts that included milk treats and blow up Christmas trees and balls for the pool," he said.

"Like any 4-year-old, Bashii was pretty excited to see Santa and the trees and balls didn't last very long."