Snow Leopard from Dudley Zoo finds a new home in India

Two-year-old Makalu left the zoo on Wednesday and is heading for his new home at Darjeeling Zoo almost 5,000 miles away, as part of a global breeding programme.

This could potentially see Makalu's descendants released into the wild. Curator Richard Brown said: "We're hugely proud to be involved in this transfer, which is an incredibly exciting move for Makalu and the snow leopard species in general.

"The international studbook co-ordinator in Finland has identified Makalu as a genetically important snow leopard and recommended him for the move, so we're proud to play our part in helping secure the future of the endangered species and we're thrilled with where he's going."