Critically endangered Livingstone's fruit bat born at Northumberland Zoo

A critically endangered fruit bat pup has been born at Northumberland Zoo.

The Livingstone's fruit bat is the first to be born at the zoo, near Morpeth, and is the first of its kind to be born in the UK for at least five years.

There are 1,200 of the megabats in the wild and only around 100 in captivity in the world in Northumberland, Jersey and a zoo in France.

What is a Livingstone's fruit bat?

• Third largest bat in the world with a wingspan up to 1.2m

• From the Comoros Islands between Africa and Madagascar

• At risk of imminent extinction due to loss of habitat through deforestation and tropical storms

• The bats give birth while roosting and the pup's first mission is to crawl down the mother's body and find treats under her wing. The pup must be strong enough to hold onto mum for several months before becoming independent

The pup, which was born on 16 November to first-time mum Sima, is doing well. The zoo do not yet know the sex but will after its first vet health check.

The pup will stay on its mum, who is being protected by male bat Elijah, who could be the dad, for the next few months while it grows.

Northumberland Zoo has 13 Livingstone's fruit bats, four female and nine male.

Zoo curator, Maxine Bradley, said: “It is a massive achievement for all of us here at the zoo to welcome our first birth.

"Having only had the bats for less than one year, we were not expecting this so soon, but we are so happy for Sima and the Livingstone’s fruit bat breeding programme.

“My goal was to change visitor perceptions with regards to bats.

"These bats have adorable, fox-like furry faces, with big Mickey Mouse ears and huge eyes - I want people to fall in love with them and gain a new favourite animal when they visit.”

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