Meerkats, armadillos and otters have had some tennis-themed fun at the zoo ahead of the Wimbledon final.

Creatures at Drusillas, near Alfriston, tried their hand at new versions of the sport.

The zoo’s colobus monkeys played on a giant tennis ball swing.

Meanwhile, the meerkats and armadillos practised their ground stroke with some ball rolling.

 “We’re big tennis fans here at the park and so thought it was a great excuse to introduce some new activities to our animals,” said Claudia Farley, the zoo’s section leader.

“We offer them enrichment activities every day, often different puzzles and challenges to find their food, and it helps keep their minds active and stimulated and helps encourage them to use natural and instinctive behaviours such as recognising scents, foraging and solving problems.

“It’s fascinating to observe how different species respond to the same stimulus. We have quite a few youngsters in our group of colobus monkeys and they had an ace time swinging from the ball which was brilliant to watch.

"The meerkats and armadillos got some fabulous exercise snuffling and rolling the balls around and our otters always get stuck into new activities, they looked like puppies playing. ”

This is just one of many enrichment activities the zoo’s more than 800 animals are offered.

The new games, puzzles and activities are designed to keep the animals’ minds “stimulated and healthy”.

The squirrel monkeys at the zoo have been given  “frozen mojito mocktail” to keep cool during the heatwave last summer.

Food-layered ice lollies, containing tea, mint and edible flowers, were served to the zoo’s cheeky creatures who rolled them around and smashed them on stones to prise out the tasty gems hidden inside.

Deputy head keeper Jamie Fryer said: “Ice lollies are a great way to keep the animals cool but they also serve an enrichment purpose as well.

"Making the animals work for their food in creative ways helps to stimulate them mentally and physically and forces them to use their instincts to look for food as they would in the wild."