Zoo's 'romantic' efforts bring arrival of first capybara baby in 11 years
A Valentine's meal arranged by keepers at a Sussex Zoo has appeared to trigger the arrival of a capybara baby.
Staff at Drusillas Park in Alfriston arranged the romantic meeting of Clementine and Augustus last February, resulting in the zoo's first capybara baby in 11 years.
The park says female Clementine spent several years searching for her Mr Right.
Calling her a lady who refused to settle for just anyone, keepers say Clementine had rejected many potential suitors over the years, and they had almost given up hope of finding her a mate.
They say young stud, Augustus, came onto the scene at the end of last year.
Determined to persuade Clementine of his worthy charms, keepers carried out very slow and careful introductions over the months that followed.
To 'ramp up' the romance earlier this year, they arranged a romantic meal for the pair for Valentine's Day.
It was complete with white linen table setting, flowers, cloche, and heart decorations, in the hopes of soon hearing the pitter patter of tiny hooves.
Head Keeper, Gemma Romanis, said: "We were over the moon to discover the new baby a couple of weeks ago, not only because it's our first capybara pup in over a decade, but because everyone has been rooting for Clementine and Augustus - and our efforts to help them find love really worked.
"Clementine has been with us for a long time, and is very affectionate and loving with us, but in contrast, had been very dismissive towards other capybaras we've tried to introduce over the years.
"When we saw a glimmer of hope in her behaviour towards Augustus, we did everything we could to encourage it.
"In a lovely turn of events, the dates between the romantic meal to the arrival of the new baby, against the gestation period for capybaras, suggest that maybe our Valentine's meal was even more of a success than we thought!"
The couple's baby girl was born on June 22 and is now three weeks old.
The zoo says the new family of three are now inseparable, barely parting more than a few steps from each other.
Keepers say first-time parents Clementine and Augustus have taken completely naturally to their new duties.
They have observed that the baby girl is healthy, lively, and already very confident, showing she feels safe and secure under her parents' careful watch.
Capybaras are the world's largest rodent and are closely related to guinea pigs.
The semi-aquatic mammals are found in South America.