An armadillo at a zoo in East Sussex is having to go on a diet after piling on the pounds over Christmas.

Despite being on a varied diet of locusts, mealworms, wax worms, eggs, rice and vegetables, Gretel has been forced to go on a new year health kick.

Zoo keepers at Drusillas Park say he has a tendency to put weight on easily.

Head Keeper Mark Kenward says he's also having to put Gretel on a new exercise regime to help him shift some more pounds.

"She is making great progress so far but she still has about 500g (1lb) to lose," he said.

"We have therefore made a few adjustments to her eating plan to ensure she remains happy and healthy."

"We are not unduly concerned at the moment but we will be keeping a close eye on her over the coming months.

"With a new eating plan, combined with a little more exercise, we are confident she will not be biting off more than she should chew in the future."

In the wild, armadillos are found in the grasslands, forests and savannahs of South America.

They have a hard shell made up of bone and tough tissue which isn't found in any other mammal.

Their name literally means "little armoured one" in Spanish.

Last year a man from Texas was wounded after a bullet he fired at an armadillo ricocheted and hit him in the head.

Another a woman in Georgia was also accidentally shot by her son-in-law in April as he was trying to kill an armadillo with a handgun.

Police say the bullet ricocheted off the animal's hard armour, entered the woman's mobile home and hit her in the back as she sat in a reclining chair.

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