Longleat Fennec Fox kits 'doing well' say keepers hand-rearing newborns
The triplets are just two and a half weeks old and are being fed every two hours
The trio of Fennec Fox kits at Longleat Safari Park are said to be doing well, as keepers work around the clock to hand-rear them.
The kits are just two and a half weeks old and need feeding every two hours, leading to sleepless nights for the keepers.
Sam Peeke is part of that team and told Greatest Hits Radio it's "so far, so good".
Their efforts follow the hand-rearing of two kits last year, although sadly neither of them made it to adulthood.
Only 40% of kits reach full maturity and Sam told us that's because they're a fragile species.
"An adult Fennec Fox is only about a kilo in weight, and a baby Fennec Fox is born at about 40 grams.
"They're completely deaf, blind and helpless when born, so it's quite a hard job to for a mummy fox."
It's hoped the triplets will reach adulthood and become part of the European breeding programme.
"It's really important with animals like this that are in breeding programmes that we try and boost that breeding programme, there aren't very many fennec foxes in captivity in Europe and there is hardly any that are actually successfully breeding," Sam said, adding: "We seem to have the breeding stage down so we are now trying to do the rearing stage and that's where we come in."
She told us that the keepers have learnt from the experience of last year, saying it's letting them be more confident in what they're doing.
"It's allowed us to research the how's, what's and why's," she said, adding: "We've got a book of notes from last year and we can look back and check that these little ones are doing the same of better than the last ones."
"It's been brilliant. The kind of legacy from the previous two has been that it gives these guys even more of a boost."