Forget Guyana - Cumbria already has a bird-eating spider

TV viewers enraptured by the current BBC series Lost Land of the Jaguar need not travel to Guyana to see the creatures encountered by Steve Backshall and his team, as a Cumbrian attraction has already given them a secure home.

The terrifying looking Goliath bird-eating spider, featured in the BBC footage, moved in to the Lakes Aquarium, at Lakeside, on Lake Windermere, in the Spring and although this creature is currently still a baby, it will reach the dinner-plate size of its elders in a year or two.

This spider from the tarantula family is treated with kid gloves by Lakes Aquarium handlers. As seen in the programme, it can get pretty nasty when agitated, sending thousands of tiny hairs flying into its victim's nostril and throat.

It lives in a display in the rainforest zone created by the Lakes Aquarium in early 2008, as the attraction shifted its focus to lakes around the world. It shares this area with other creatures seen on the gripping BBC series, including a caiman and extremely cute pygmy marmosets now christened Marmite and Marmalade.

Other creatures from the rainforest within this part of the attraction include tiny red-eyed tree frogs and a boa constrictor.

Marketing Manager, Charlotte Brown, says: "We are delighted that creatures like our amazing spider are now becoming better known, as conservation of the rainforest and its native species, is hugely important. By educating viewers, in the same way that we communicate key conservation messages to our visitors, Lost Land of the Jaguar should play a significant part in rainforest protection."

For more information, log on to Lakesaquarium.co.uk.