A four-year-old girl from Walsall has picked, wrapped and delivered Christmas presents for her two favourite animals at Dudley Zoo.

Harriet Beech, who has visited the Castle Hill attraction since she was three months old with her mum Nichola Pemberton and dad Nicholas Beech, has brought in parcels for Bornean orangutan Sprout and Carpathian lynx, Dave.

She selected the gifts from the zoo’s Amazon wishlist, which gives supporters of all ages chance to help us enrich the lives of our animals all year round. Mum Nichola said:

“Harriet absolutely loves Sprout and Dave and calls them her friends. She chose some decking rope so keepers can make a scratching post for Dave and a hessian sack for Sprout to play with and insisted on having the items delivered to home so she could wrap them herself and deliver them in person.

“She is obsessed with animals and we have always encouraged her, as we feel it is such a kind thing to do.”

Curator Richard Brown said: “This was so lovely of Harriet and we really appreciate her thoughtfulness. We’ll make sure Sprout and Dave get their gifts in time for the big day and both will get hours of enrichment and enjoyment from the presents.

"Everyone at the zoo is very grateful to people who support us by donating money, adopting animals and answering our appeals for items which help enrich the lives of the 200 plus species we have on site."

Dudley Zoo's Amazon Wishlist contains a variety of fun and practical items, specifically chosen by keepers to benefit animals, including hanging baskets, hot water bottles, artificial plants, tools and creature carriers.

Items can be delivered either to the purchaser who can drop them off at the Zoo shop, or directly to the zoo itself.