It is not every day you get the chance to buy a penguin television star or a deer which upstaged Kirk Douglas in a film.

But animal lovers are being given the chance to snap up one of the prettiest zoos in the country.

Gatwick Zoo, which covers 11.4 acres, has just gone on the market for £550,000.

Owners Terry and Sheila Thorpe, who created the zoo from farming land 27 years ago, say improvements costing £200,000 are needed for a larger cafeteria and more pay kiosks.

The couple, who are both 64, do not want this large commitment and instead plan to move to Scotland.

They have another, more poignant reason, for moving.

Four years ago one of their twin sons, Hugo, was found dead in the zoo. The post-mortem did not find a cause for his death.

Setting up a zoo was Terry's childhood dream but spent most of his working life in the oil industry before realising it.

The animal-loving couple bought a house at the site 30 years ago, with four acres to allow them to indulge their passion for animals.

The Thorpes began buying land around them and gradually developed their zoo, which opened in 1973, then covering seven acres.

Now it attracts more than 70,000 visitors a year.

It has nearly 900 animals and birds and between 200-300 species. Two-thirds of the inhabitants are birds, there are 40 monkeys, 20 wallabies, two otters and their five young, eight meerkats, seven penguins, two emus and, in the summer, 200 butterflies.

One of the most famous inhabitants is Gus, the homboldt penguin, who appeared in dozens of BBC TV programme promotions one Christmas, an airline commercial, and The Big Breakfast.

There have been lots of amusing and unusual incidents at the zoo including the day a group of nuns complained after a parrot began screaming four-letter words at a party of children they were escorting.

Terry remembers another embarassing moment when he took Bambi, a baby deer, to appear in a film starring Kirk Douglas.

The director wanted a shot of Bambi on the lawn outside a cottage when Kirk Douglas walked out of the door.

Terry said: "Bambi refused to stand still and every time Kirk came out she moved out of shot. This went on all morning until the last shot when Bambi stayed still.

"Kirk reached out to touch her and she leaped into a nearby pond. Kirk jumped in to help her and got his immaculate suit covered in mud. We still got the £200 fee though."

Terry said the five keepers, three ground and garden staff and three cafe and gift shop workers all wanted to stay.

He said: "We were mainly animal lovers, not business people.

"Now we are all full of apprehension. We are looking for someone full of enthusiasm with pocketfuls of money to take over."

Terry said whatever happened the zoo would not close. If no buyer came forward he would carry on running it himself.

He said: "I couldn't bear to break it all up."