A MAN has been banned from Dudley Zoo after allegedly handling animals at the site.

He is said to have picked up a ring tailed lemur, pygmy goat and a giant rabbit while visiting the zoo.

Zoo bosses said they were 'horrified' after being made aware of the incident by social media posts and that the man was notified that he would be refused entry to the Castle Hill attraction in the future.

In a statement, Zoo Director Derek Grove said supervision of members of the public will be reviewed.

Derek Grove, Zoo Director, said: "We were notified by some of the individual’s friends to online posts on Sunday night and were horrified by his actions.

"We wrote to him at the earliest opportunity to inform him he would be refused entry to the zoo site in the future and all staff have been made aware of the incident.

"Although our walkthrough areas are manned by keepers, we expect our visitors to show a level of acceptable conduct while on site. It appears these incidents took place out of view and even in some areas that were closed to the public at the time.

"We firmly believe that wherever possible allowing visitors to share the same space as the animals is hugely beneficial for both parties and we are disgusted that someone thinks this behaviour is acceptable towards animals, especially as it took place in front of children.

"However in light of this incident we will be reviewing the supervision of members of the public.

"The animals in question have been assessed by keepers and thankfully are physically unharmed."