STAFF at West Midland Safari Park have named their huge litter of endangered African painted dogs.

Keepers at the attraction welcomed 14 pups in August and they have now all been named – following the Park’s rule of all babies born this year are given a name starting with the letter ‘E’.

The five boys have been named Elvis, Eddy, Einstein, Eli and Earl, while the nine girls have been named Evie, Ellie, Elsa, Esther, Erin, Echo, Ebony, Eysha and Esme.

Lawrence Bates, head of carnivores, said: “We left it to the keepers to name the fourteen pups, as they work with them every day and their hard work and care has helped towards having had such a successful litter of pups this year.

“We had to come up with fourteen different names beginning with the letter ‘E’ – a lot harder than it seems – then we all voted for our favourites.

“Elvis was the most voted for name.”

He added: “Our keepers have now got the fun task of trying to memorise all fourteen names and match them to all fourteen pups.”

The birth of the pups comes as good news for conservation efforts, as habitat loss, snares and the introduction of diseases from domestic animals have put the species at risk, with an estimated population of just 5,500.

West Midland Safari Park is now home to a pack of 22 painted dogs, the first of which arrived in 2002. The pups’ dad, Viper was born in 2005, in the first litter of pups the Park had.

This was the third litter of pups to be born at the Park since then, becoming the latest success of an endangered species breeding programme.