THREE Père David’s fawns born at West Midland Safari Park have been named, with a little help from Shuttle readers.

Keepers at the Bewdley attraction were surprised by the three births this year, as usually only one fawn is born. Therefore, when it came to naming the cute new arrivals, they knew they might need some help.

A competition was launched, inviting Shuttle readers to come up with names for the newborns, with one main rule – all the suggestions must begin with the letter ‘E’.

The suggested names were then sent to the keepers, who chose their three favourites – two girl’s names, Eve and Echo, and one boy, Ernie.

After the names were picked, everyone who suggested the winning names were put into a hat and chosen at random to win a family pass to come and see the babies they helped name.

The lucky winners of the competition were announced as Christine Morris for the name ‘Ernie’, 10-year-old Alysia White for ‘Echo’ and Lynsey Wesley for ‘Eve’.

Kidderminster Shuttle:

Alice Owen-Jones, senior keeper of Ungulates Asia, said: “We were impressed with the amount of names Shuttle readers had come up with beginning with ‘E’.

“There were more than 100 different names to choose from, but we finally settled on Eve and Echo for the little girls and Ernie for the boy.

“We chose these simply because they were our favourites and we thought they would suit the three gorgeous newbies. They are also quite easy to remember.

“We would like to thank everyone for their suggestions and the Shuttle’s interest in these fantastic animals.

“Père David’s deer are classed as ‘extinct in the wild’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, so it is great to highlight the plight of this highly endangered species.”

The unusual deer are called ‘sze pu shiang’ in their native China, which translates as ‘none of the four’. This refers to the deer’s appearance, as it looks as if it has the antlers of a deer, camel’s neck, hooves of a cow and a donkey-like tail.