PICTURES: Mum's the word if you're heading to West Midland Safari Park

There will be plenty to celebrate as more than 50 mothers, both new and experienced, welcomed little ones, with 15 of the Bewdley attraction's species gaining new additions to their numbers - a vital boost for those classified as 'endangered'.

One of the greatest successes of the year was the birth of three dhole pups in March 2015. This was a first for the park, as these endangered Asian wild dogs were only introduced to the site in 2012.

Other animals born within the last year included three bactrian camel calves, two Cape buffalo, a banteng calf, several antelope and deer, along with Cameroon lambs and a lowland anoa calf.

It's not just the larger animals that have welcomed new arrivals. Keepers on the Park's Discovery Trail had a few nice surprises with the appearance of some tiny rainbow lorikeet chicks and some hard-to-spot yellow and black poison dart frog tadpoles.

Angela Potter, head of wildlife operations, said, "We are absolutely thrilled to have had such a successful year of animal births.

"It is a really good sign that so many of our animals are breeding, as it is a natural behaviour that shows our new mums are happy and healthy. The keepers put in a lot of time researching husbandry techniques, studying nutrition and caring for the animals, so it is great to see their hard work paying off - especially if the result is some beautiful babies."

She added: "Over half of the animals who have had babies are listed as 'endangered', or 'critically endangered' and are part of an international breeding programme. We hope that the births we have had this year, go some way towards helping worldwide conservation efforts to preserve the different species."

This Mother's Day will also be the second for safari park favourites, 22-month old baby elephant Sutton and mother Five.

The mother-infant bond between elephants, is one of the strongest in the natural world and male calves stay with their mothers for around 12 years.

Although staff at the park keep a close eye on pregnant mothers, they keep their distance when an animal goes into labour, ensuring that the experience is as natural as possible. It is possible that one or two lucky visitors may have witnessed one of the births on their journey around the safari.

With the imminent arrival of spring, staff are looking forward to what they hope will be another successful year of loveable newcomers.

On Mother's Day all of the exhibits at West Midland Safari Park will be open as usual and mothers will receive a voucher with admission for a special free gift.