The electric vehicle is being used by the team’s two full-time educators working predominantly with primary school key stage 1 and 2 pupils and often transport a variety of snakes, spiders and assorted creepy-crawlies.

Sponsored by local dealer Nissan Liverpool in Sefton Street and liveried in line with the safari, the model is charged using electricity from the attraction’s own solar panels and is therefore entirely free to run.

The LEAF is also making a sizeable contribution to the park’s environmental and sustainability goals. The park already harnesses rain water and operates a zero-to-landfill policy.

Richard Smith, head of visitor services at Knowsley Safari, said: ‘In many ways the LEAF is the perfect car for us. It’s fantastic.

‘Because we’ve been able to couple our charger to our solar panels there are effectively no running costs and that’s a real advantage.

‘But we also operate in accordance with a strict sustainability plan and in that regard the LEAF is a winner too. It fits very neatly with the overall message the Learning and Discovery Team are delivering at schools across the region.’