FEEDING bananas to four tonne elephants is all par for the course at the Dublin Zoo Summer Camp. But for four year old David Ferris of Templeogue the task of hand feeding a mammal four metres tall proved a little difficult yesterday so Kirsty, the 28 year old Asian elephant, obliged him by helping herself to half a bucket full.

"They're magic. They're my favourites," David exclaimed as he nervously approached each animal. ",And they smell better than the hippos.

At the beginning of the day his favourite animal had been a leopard "because they have spots and can kill quickly" but he changed his mind at every zoo pen.

David and his six year old brother, Robert, are among 50 children taking part in the five day summer camp at Dublin Zoo. The children from the greater Dublin area are aged between four and 14 years and the summer school is designed to teach them to respect animals and their environment while having a good time.

Robert is impressed with the camp.

"I have been to sports camps but this is much better. We can feed the animals, there are no animals at the sports camp, and there is a shop that sells pretend snakes. The leopards are spotted and orange and I think they are wild and you can see the seals. It's brilliant."

At the elephant enclosure he tried to persuade the eldest animal, Judy, that he had no food for her.

"She doesn't believe me," he joked as the 39 year elephant nuzzled up to him.

"I was really scared at the start but after feeding them I found out how friendly they are," explained Rosemary Murphy.

The nine year old from Cabra joined the camp with six of her cousins. For her the little monkeys, the Ring tailed Lemur, famous for stink fights, are one of the zoo's main attractions.

"They are so soft and cute and they jump on your shoulder when you are feeding them. The babies ride on their mother's back, they are lovely."

Rosemary had been to the zoo before, but the summer camp is different, she says, because "we can get close to the animals and feed them".

The course, which costs £55 for non-members and £45 for zoo members, has been running for the last three years.

"There has been a very positive reaction to it from both parents and children," says Michelle Griffin, education officer at the zoo.

"The children are divided into camps, according to their age and there are different activities for each group. We are trying to promote educational holiday activities. As well as learning about animals, the children do drama and arts and crafts, make videos, and compete in the zoolympics.

"The zoo has always been seen as a day out for the kids after their First Holy Communion or a birthday, but we would like to get across a more serious message. We tell them of the need to look after the environment we teach them how to respect the animals that they see.

"There are plenty of laughs, but the camp is also educational. They are taught about conservation and recycling and are encouraged to join conservation and environmental groups," she added.

The Dublin Zoo summer camp finishes at the end of this week. But the zoo will hold a bats, cats and spiders workshop during the Halloween break and there will be other programmes at Christmas.