00:00 For the first time ever, one of the most extreme animal births has been caught on camera of the
00:05 world's third largest bat, the Livingston fruit bat. Here at the zoo on Mother's Day last weekend,
00:10 our keepers were treated to something which has never been recorded before. At 3pm in the afternoon
00:15 we noticed that Celine seemed unsettled and was licking herself a lot, which is unusual.
00:20 It didn't take long before we realized that she was going into labour. As the conditions are kept
00:25 the same in the bat house year-round, our female bats can give birth at any time, but usually only
00:30 give birth to one pup per year. Celine kept using her thumbs on her wings to hang herself upside
00:35 down to let gravity assist her with the birthing process. This critically endangered species is one
00:40 of the rarest bats in the world, with an estimated wild population of only 1,200 remaining, and there
00:46 are only around 100 in captivity in the world. So every single birth is celebrated as an amazing
00:53 part of the captive breeding program. After around two hours and numerous attempts of hanging upside
00:58 down, the bat pup's head finally appeared and after one final push, six-year-old Celine had
01:05 given birth to her first ever pup. Giving birth whilst hanging from her thumbs and the pup hanging
01:10 from just the umbilical cord, Celine then flips herself back into the hanging position and tries
01:16 to get the pup onto her belly. Our other mum, Seema, is there to assist with cleaning the
01:21 newborn pup while Celine continues to move the pup onto her front. During this process, the mother
01:29 will also cut the umbilical cord once the pup has got a good hold. The pup instinctively moves down
01:35 towards its mother's teats, which are located almost in the armpit underneath the wing.
01:40 This allows the baby to be more protected while mum still continues to fly and get food.
01:47 Although this method of giving birth seems quite extreme and unnatural, it is completely normal
01:52 and as the mothers mature and become more experienced, the amount of time that the
01:56 pups actually spend hanging in the air after being born is reduced.
02:00 The pups stay on mum for around three months before spending short periods away from her.
02:06 Not only were we treated to Celine's baby on Mother's Day weekend, but we were also surprised
02:11 by another arrival from our other mum, Thea, as well. Both baby pups are doing extremely well
02:17 and can be seen every day by keen spotters in our Northumberland Zoo bat house. What an incredible
02:24 Mother's Day weekend and what an amazing moment to capture for this critically endangered species.
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