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The Queen's most memorable encounters with wildlife

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queen elizabeth1 © Photo: Getty Images

In April 1940, a young Princess Elizabeth visited the aviary in the grounds of the Royal Lodge, Windsor, with her mother Queen Elizabeth and younger sister Princess Margaret.

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The royal family enjoyed a visit to London Zoo in May 1939, where a 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth reached out to a chimpanzee while her sister Princess Margaret looked on.

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Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret also got to meet a panda during their day trip to the zoo.

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The royals often visited London Zoo together, and were accompanied by their nanny Miss Crawford to see the wildlife in 1938.

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On the same trip the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were photographed with the penguins as they toured London Zoo.

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The Queen enjoyed regular visits to the zoo as a child, and is pictured here with a chimpanzee in the early 1930s.

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Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh watch sea lions being fed during a visit to the Institute of Oceanography in February 1983 in San Diego, California.

queen elizabeth © Photo: Getty Images

King George VI joined his daughters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret for photos next to an aviary in the gardens of Windsor Castle in July 1946.

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Queen Elizabeth came face to face with koalas during a visit to a wildlife park in Brisbane during her official tour of Australia in October 2011.

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The Queen was joined by Prince Philip to officially open the new Land of the Lions exhibit at ZSL London Zoo on Thursday - the zoo she so often enjoyed to visit as a child.