Attenborough's letter delights five-year-old superfan

Five-year-old Max spent hours drawing 99 animals for Sir David's 99th birthday

A five-year-old boy's dream came true when he received a letter from his hero, Sir David Attenborough.

Max Evans-Browning from Neyland, Pembrokeshire, drew 99 animals to mark the renowned British biologist's 99th birthday.

His endeavours reached "far and wide" and even caught the attention of Sir David himself.

After receiving a reply, Max's mum Samantha said he was "doing little flips" on the bed in excitement.

"It's literally been a month and I was starting to think we weren't going to get anything," she said.

But when Samantha arrived home on Thursday she found a letter which was addressed to Max.

"When I picked him up, I acted really casual," she said.

When she gave him the letter, she said his eyes immediately went to Sir David's printed name at the bottom.

"He can read really well, and he saw the name.

"He was doing little flips on the bed and shouting that his card had been in David Attenborough's hands. It was the reaction that I wanted.

"Trying to get him to sleep then was an absolute nightmare."

Samantha said they would be framing the letter - in which Sir David wrote he "greatly enjoyed" seeing Max's drawings - and hanging it "pride of place" in Max's animal-themed bedroom.

"It was so nice that he had hand-written the whole thing. It made that bit more special."

Max couldn't believe his luck when he opened up a handwritten reply from his hero

She said the reaction from the media and public since she shared Max's drawings had been overwhelming.

"People have been so nice, we've seen all the comments and I'm making Max a photo book of them.

"When he watches David Attenborough, of course it's all around the world [so] he couldn't get over how many people from different countries could see [his drawings].

"We're usually quite a private family, but I knew there could be somebody who knew where I could send it, and it just went a little bit mad. He's gone a little bit famous.

"He couldn't believe it."

Samantha added Max can sometimes lack confidence in his drawing, but the experience had been really good for improving that and had reaffirmed his desire to be "the next David Attenborough".

"Obviously we are proud of him, but it's just been nice for him to realise all those people who don't know him have made the effort as well.

"It's boosted him even more."