A WEIGHTY problem has been solved at Dudley Zoo thanks to the handiwork of assistant curator Richard Brown.

His design skills mean that the zoo’s spider monkeys, Charlie, Chester, Valentine and Evita, can now have their weight recorded simply by hopping on to a wooden shelf housing a set of scales.

Mr Brown said: "The only way we could record their weights previously was when they were sedated for medical treatment.

"By fitting the scales inside a box and mounting it on the wall so it looks like a shelf means the spider monkeys can simply hop on and keepers can see the weight immediately on the display fascia."

He added: "Spider monkeys are pretty quick and are naturally suspicious of things like scales so having a box, where all wires are completely hidden, will be a stress-free way of weighing them.”

The box system could also be used for other animals at the zoo according to Mr Brown, who added: “This could prove a useful design to help us weigh other animals, including big cats, great apes, and possibly our Brazilian tapirs.

“We would need to use different materials but it's certainly worth testing."