A COLWYN Bay zoo has welcomed its latest arrival - an adorable baby camel.
Sparky was born to mum and Clara and Genghis about four weeks ago. The double-humped Bactrian cutey is now stepping out and about in her enclosure, whilst staying close to her mum's side.
Nick Jackson, director at the Welsh Mountain Zoo, said: "It’s always wonderful to welcome any new baby at the zoo.
"Sparky is a fantastic addition to our camel family and I’m happy to report mum and baby are doing extremely well.”
Bactarian camels carry their young for about 13 months.
The zoo monitor all of their animals if they suspect they might be pregnant, but a new arrival can still be a surprise.
Mr Jackson added: "We really want to emulate our animals’ natural environments and leave them to behave as they would in the wild, caring for them at a distance, therefore some of our new arrivals are unexpected.
"Whilst there where some indicators that mum was pregnant, we weren’t 100 per cent sure and had little indication in terms of dates.”
Sparky is the fifth Bactrian camel to be born on the zoo, which has a history in homing and breeding.
The wild relatives of domestic Bactrian camels are recognised by the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN) as highly endangered.
With numbers decreasing each year due to fragile habitat, an application has been made to have the Bactrian Camel listed as critically endangered.
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