Polish zoo lets visitors meet the Flintstones

(AFP PHOTO / JANEK SKARZYNSKI)

Warsaw's zoo has opened a new display where two volunteers dressed as cavemen will spend time in a former monkey-cage, to remind visitors that humans are animals too, organisers said Friday.

Dressed in animal skins, the 24-year-old man and 18-year-old woman will while away their time grooming each other, keeping a fire burning, and watching visitors who look in through the bars, the zoo's deputy director Ewa Zbornikowska told AFP.

"They are very calm and gentle. They don't bite. And they're keen to watch all the strangers passing by their home," she said.

"You can try to communicate with them, or even offer them food," she added.

Zbornikowska explained that the project was "a playful attempt to inspire people to think about the place of humans in the universe."

The display, due to last until Sunday, goes hand in hand with events focusing on the lifestyle and habits of humanity's prehistoric ancestors, their discoveries, plus their image in modern society, epitomised by the cartoon Flintstone family.