Dudley Zoo's male Rothschild's giraffe, Kubwa, has been captured on canvas.

Ungulates Section Leader, Jay Haywood, was delighted to receive prints through the post of his favourite animal charge, painted by former keeper Rama Samaraweera, following a return visit to DZG.

Sam, aged 89, was fired from the zoo in 1962 after spending too much time drawing the animals rather than mucking them out, but turned his then-hobby into a career by becoming an acclaimed wildlife artist.

Following a VIP visit, when Sam met some of the current keepers and animals, he put his paintbrush to canvas again in his Mid Wales studio and produced a stunning portrait of Kubwa for Jay, who was his tour guide for the day.

Jay said: “It was great to meet Sam and hear about zoo life when he worked here.

“We organised a giraffe feed as part of his VIP tour and I told him how the giraffes were my favourite animal at the zoo, so I was delighted to receive a package containing four prints.

“They look really good and my copy will take pride of place up on the wall in my house, while we’ll hopefully also add one to the giraffe house for visitors to see too.”

Sam painted Kubwa from photographs taken during his visit by his nephew Phi Brooks, Head of Photography at Dudley College, who accompanied him on his tour.

Visitors can see Sam’s donated original artwork - an elephant, a snow leopard, cheetah and tiger – in the Discovery Centre.