The eight were selected from 30 hopefuls

Visitors will see the humans, who will be treated like animals, kept amused with games, music and art.

But after each day in the open Bear Mountain enclosure the bunch - naked except for well-placed fig leaves - will be allowed home for the night.

The Human Zoo hopes to demonstrate the basic nature of man and examine the impact they have on the animal Kingdom.

Cambridge University veterinary student Simon Spiro, 19, from New Malden in Surrey, was selected from among 30 hopefuls to take part in the project.

Pocket Scrabble

"I'm a veterinary student so the idea of working for a zoo was something that appealed to me," he said.

"I'm not even worried by the fact it might be cold and rainy. I've brought Pocket Scrabble in case we're bored."

"The only problem is I won't have any pockets to put it in."

Brendan Carr, 25, from Aylesbury, Bucks, said his motto was to "dream like you'll live forever, live like you'll die today".

I got a laugh like a hyena but get the hump like a camel, so cover me in fig leaves as I'm the ultimate mammal

Poem by one of the applicants

The actor, model, musician, martial arts expert and fitness fanatic entered the competition by writing a poem.

It read: "I'm funky like a monkey and as cool as a cat, talk more than a parrot, up all night like a bat.

"I got a laugh like a hyena but get the hump like a camel, so cover me in fig leaves as I'm the ultimate mammal."

Other volunteers on display are Anna Westbury, 27, from London, who described herself as "zoo obsessed" and Thomas Mahoney, 26, from Cambridge, who wanted to "get back to nature".

Human Zoo runs from Friday until Monday.