DUDLEY Zoo is celebrating the first anniversary of its interactive medieval experience Castle Creatures by welcoming four baby bats.

Three Egyptian fruit bats and one Seba’s short-tailed bat were recently born at the zoo and trainee keeper, Cara Sheldon, said she thinks there are a few more expectant mums, which is "great news".

The £250,000 exhibit inside the 11th century Dudley Castle, which was funded by the European Regional Development Fund, tells the story of the Earl of Dudley’s family and explains the history of the castle and has been a popular addition to the zoo since its launch in 2015.

As well as interactive games, it also houses a number of animal exhibits, including the bats, to show how medieval folk lived in close proximity with various species as part of everyday life.

Zoo director, Derek Grove, said: “Castle Creatures has been a huge success and the feedback over the last 12 months has been really positive from visitors.

"It has achieved its objective to integrate the castle more in with the animal collection and it's also a great way to help us pass on conservation messages about all kinds of animal species, not just the endangered ones as well as providing a fun way to learn historical facts about the castle."