He may only be 11 but Ryan Taylor has already become a director of a zoo.

Ryan, from Addiscombe, is a junior director at Drusillas Park in East Sussex and has been helping raise money to help save tortoises and turtles from extinction.

Of the 272 species of turtle and tortoise identified at least half are now extinct and Ryan, who will start at Thomas More School in September, helped to highlight The European Association of Zoo's campaign, ShellShock, by talking to visitors.

Along with other board members Ryan spent a day spreading the conservation message and asking the public to contribute 50p to help decorate a large turtle collage.

Drusillas Park's junior board of directors was founded more than 15 years ago. The concept behind it was to gain an insight into how Drusillas is seen from a child's perspective.

ShellShock represents Ryan's first major conservation-led fundraising project since his inauguration on to the board in December 2004, when he was selected from more than 25 hopefuls after impressing the Drusillas' panel with his imaginative and unusual ideas.