30ft lemur statue unveiled at Dudley Zoo

Visitors will be encouraged to take pictures with the sheet steel sculpture, and learn about the plight of animals in the wild.

Luke Perry, from Cradley Heath, created the masterpiece which has been placed in the lemur enclosure.

Derek Groves, zoo director, said: "We do talks but this is a different way of trying to get the message across.

"We have some statues at the entrance and people use them as a photo opportunity.

"We thought it would be a good idea to try and combine the two.

"It's called 'a leap of faith', it's built around the concept of lemurs being an endangered species and whether they survive in the while is whether humans take action and help to stop them being wiped out.

"The lemur is on one post and the question is whether it gets to the other side. It's down to us.

"It's not just about lemurs it's about all animals and their habitats, so hopefully it'll be a photo opportunity but also people will look at the statue and get the message.

"Hopefully it'll get people to think more about the animals and their habitats and change their behaviours."