A weekly news reporter has taken time out of the newsroom to shadow a team of zookeepers on their daily routine.

North Devon Journal reporter Joe Bulmer spent the day at Exmoor Zoo which had invited people to get behind the scenes at one of the area’s most popular tourist attractions.

Joe spent the day with animals and staff and was soon getting his hands dirty as well as finding out more about the zoo’s education programme.

He followed mammal keeper Robyn Clark who showed him more about the various jobs covered on a daily basis.

Joe Bulmer tries his hand at being a zoo keeper

“My guide showed me both the glamorous jobs – feeding the lemurs, fussing over the tapirs – and the less so – mucking out the meerkats and Priscilla the porcupine,” wrote Joe.

“Robyn and the other keepers’ passion for their work was infectious, I was having fun even when picking up poop.”

Joe also discovered the binturong, also known as a bearcat, one of the zoo’s most unusual residents.

“Native to south east Asia these climbing mammals are known to emit popcorn-like odours from their musk glands,” wrote Joe.

A video of Joe’s day as a zoo keeper was also published on the North Devon Journal’s website.