LONDON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Keepers at ZSL London Zoo have shelled out on an eggs-tra special surprise for the animals on Thursday - as the country counts down to this weekend's Easter celebrations.

While children all over the country will scramble to indulge in chocolate eggs this Sunday, the Zoo's troop of black-capped squirrel monkeys woke up to their own Easter fun Thursday morning - colourful papier-mache eggs hung up in their tree-lined home, filled with tasty treats.

The Zoo's four ring-tailed coatis, Frankie, Shaggy, Velma and Brush, searched their lush forest den to find brightly coloured eggs stuffed with their favourite tasty crickets, while the Zoo's resident colony of Humboldt penguins were served their fishy breakfast in a bright Easter basket.

ZSL's Animal Operations Manager Angela Ryan said: "An Easter egg hunt is a cracking way to ensure our residents don't miss out on the weekend festivities - while there was no chocolate for our animals, our keepers hatched a plan to make sure they all had an Easter hunt for surprise treats of their own."

She said the squirrel monkeys used their acrobatic skills to get at the tasty mealworms hanging from their treetop home, coatis snuffled around for hidden crickets, and penguins were pecking in their baskets for their fish like pros.

"Fish and grubs might not seem like a tasty Easter snack to us, but for our residents they're pretty hard to beat."