LONDON, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Two extremely rare Javan green magpie chicks, one of the world's rarest species, have hatched at Chester Zoo in Cheshire, northwest England, adding to a spectacular spring time baby boom, officials said Friday.
"Our animal experts are celebrating an unprecedented surge in new animal arrivals with the chicks joining two Asian elephant calves, a baby Bornean orangutan, two Rothschild's giraffes, a pair of red river hoglets, a capybara pup and twin sengis," said a spokesman for the zoo.
The magpie chicks are still in their nest, so further details about the pair have yet to be discovered.
Amazing footage of one of the two magpie chicks, at just a few hours old, was caught on a special nest cam at the zoo.
"Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, the birds are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)," the spokesman said. "The zoo's new, and incredibly rare, additions have therefore given cheer to one of the world's most threatened species."
"Javan green magpies hatching here gives a huge lift to conservation efforts to save the species and ensure its survival. Our long-term ambitions are to return birds bred in the UK and Europe to the forests of Indonesia," said Mike Jordan, the zoo's collections director.
