'Extinct' birds hatch at Chester Zoo

Two incredibly rare Soccoro dove chicks - a species that was declared extinct in the wild 47 years ago - have hatched at the zoo.

Fewer than 200 Soccoro doves are left on the planet and all of them live in zoos. The chicks will join a recovery programme which aims to return them to their ancestral home, off the coast of Mexico.

The chicks were raised by ‘foster parents’ – a pair of barbary doves – as adult Socorro doves have a poor track record of incubating eggs and raising their own chicks.

Bird experts at the zoo also helped to ensure the chicks had a smooth ride to adulthood, weighing them regularly to make sure they developed correctly.

Andrew Owen, the zoo’s Curator of Birds, said: