Critically endangered Livingstone's fruit bat gives birth as part of vital breeding programme at Northumberland Zoo

Northumberland Zoo has announced the birth of a critically endangered species as part of one of their biggest and most vital projects to date.

The Livingstone’s fruit bat pup was born on November 16 to five-year-old first-time mum Sima, and is the first at the zoo to be born.

Keepers check on it visually throughout the day and report that it is doing well. The sex is unknown but will be determined on the first vet health check.

The pup’s first mission is to crawl up the mother’s body and find the teats located under her wing. It must then be strong enough to hold onto Sima for several months before becoming independent.

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.”

These ‘flying foxes’ are the world’s third largest bat species with a wingspan of up to 1.2 metres and originate from Republic of Comoros. They are at risk of imminent extinction due to deforestation from people of Comoros, who use trees for and land for building and growing food, and severe tropical storms caused by global warming.

Unlike most bat exhibits, the ‘Fruit Bat Island’ is a day-time enclosure, allowing visitors to see the residents up close and in daylight.

“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,” Maxine added.

Northumberland Zoo is the world’s second captive breeding population of Livingstone’s fruit bats with only 1,200 of the bats existing in the wild and just over 100 in captivity between Northumberland, Jersey and a zoo in France.

This pup’s birth is vital to the future of the species and breeding programme, which is in association with Gerald Durrell’s Jersey Zoo to increase their population in captivity.

Get the interactive Northumberland Zoo app to learn more about the species or watch more about the bat birth on the zoo’s YouTube channel.