THREE Dudley Zoo keepers have achieved top marks in their animal care exams.

Jay Haywood, aged 27, Luke Millar, 23, and 22 year-old Stacey Ball, fit in their Advanced National Certificate in the Management of Zoo Animals studies around their animal keeping duties at the Castle Hill attraction.

Jay, from Dudley, joined DZG in 2000 and has cared for big cats and ungulates. Bird keeper Luke, from Tewkesbury, started work on site in 2008 and Walsall-based Stacey has been at the zoo for five years looking after primates and birds.

Zoo Registrar and Research co-ordinator Dr David Beeston said: “Jay, Luke and Stacey have done very well and achieved excellent results, everyone at the zoo is very proud of them."

The qualification is the equivalent of NVQ Level 3 and also involved a week-long residential course in Hampshire, covering subjects such as enclosure design, animal diet, parasites and record keeping.

Chief Executive Peter Suddock said: “Dudley Zoo has always trained in-house and pioneered the system which many zoos now use.

“Given today’s economic climate, and the trend for cost cuts in training programmes across the country, it seems we have got it spot on.

“It is a failsafe scheme as trainees have a wealth of knowledge all round them to call on from other hugely supportive staff at the zoo.”