Dudley Zoo's new sealion Oba tucks into 1,700 fish per day

Visitors have been flocking to see Oba - and he has been revelling in all the attention.

His healthy appetite has seen him feast upon more than 12,000 sprat so far, with zoo staff lining up buckets of the small fish at feeding time.

Children have been gathering round the enclosure at meal times to see Oba roar with approval as the sprats are tossed his way.

And he has also delighted his audience with his trademark trick of doing a 'handstand'.

He is expected to be nearer the 40-stone mark by the time breeding season comes around, meaning he will have to get through 14 kg of food every day.

The 14-year-old heavyweight has swapped the high life of the French Riviera for the Black Country and joins fellow new arrival Daisy, who has moved from Plaisance du Touch, near Toulouse.

And there is the prospect of some French kissing between the pair when they are eventually introduced - but that is not expected to happen for a few weeks.

Oba was selected to join the zoo as part of the European breeding programme.

His arrival comes after the death of male sea lion Orry, who was a long-time zoo favourite.

The zoo's assistant curator Richard Brown said: "We are letting them get used to their surroundings separately.

"There are two or three members of staff working with Oba and building up a relationship.

"You would think he has been here all his life, he's settling in really well.

"He's starting to recognise people's faces and he has clocked that the staff wear green, he's responding when we walk past him."

Just minutes after the crane dropped him into the pool at the zoo last week, Oba was settling in and playing with his keepers.

One of his trainers from France has stayed on in Dudley for three days to help the transition and make sure he is comfortable in his surroundings.

Curator Derek Grove said: "He is very, very popular with the staff and the visitors and everyone has been talking about him.

"In France the staff worked quite happily with Oba and he built up a good bond with them, so our staff have been working on a daily basis to get the same relationship.

"He is an animal that is very happy to bond with humans, which is great. It has been good weather and we have had plenty of visitors, and it seems like many of them have been coming to see him specially.

"He loves the attention and like to have people watching him."

Mr Grove said it was not a challenge keeping up with Oba's appetite, as they have plenty of experience in keeping sealions over the years.

Oba's tricks have endeared him to the zoo's visitors this week and Mr Grove said he is shaping up to be one of the zoo's biggest characters.

As well as techniques needed for medical purposes, such as hopping onto the scales and opening his mouth, he can also give a wave and have a cuddle.

The Sealion pool has just undergone specialist renovation work to repair the wavy Tecton den, ramp and diving board using original shuttering techniques.

The pool is one of 12 Modernist buildings constructed between 1935 and the zoo's opening in May 1937.Designed by Russian architect Berthold Lubetkin and awarded World Monument status in 2009, the curvy concrete buildings make up the largest single collection of Tectons in the world.

Oba and Daisy are not all that is new at the zoo.

The visitor centre has come alive, with the wraps having been taken off the new Castle Creatures section.

The walk-through guides visitors past all kinds of creepy crawlies and also describes how they were used and perceived during medieval times when the castle was built.

There is also plenty to keep youngsters entertained, including the Geneslicer which allows them to combine two of the zoo's animals on an interactive screen to create a bizarre new creature.

Trainee keeper Cara Sheldon said: "This has been six months in the making and it has been really successful. People seem to be really enjoying it."