Video shows baby armadillo born at Newquay Zoo in first for UK this year

Keepers at the zoo are hand rearing the animal to better its chances of survival

Newquay Zoo has welcomed the first baby armadillo of the year to be born in Britain.

Keepers at the zoo have been hand-rearing the six-banded armadillo in order to give him the best possible chance of survival.

“We’ve been up through the night to bottle-feed him, which can prove very tiring, but it’s all worth it,” Sam Harley, head keeper at the zoo, said.

The baby was born to resident armadillos at the zoo – father Wallace and mother Gromit.

The zoo is only one of 10 in the UK to house the six-banded armadillo. Known also as the yellow armadillo, the animal is native to South America and usually measures between 40 and 50 centimetres long.