THE RARE species baby boom at Chester Zoo is being celebrated after an unprecedented surge in the arrival of new animals.

Two extremely rare Javan green magpie chicks added to a spectacular spring time baby boom at the zoo 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.

Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild the Javan green magpie chicks are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The zoo’s new and incredibly rare additions have given cheer to one of the world’s most threatened species and the staff are hailing the surge of new arrivals as ‘one of the zoo’s biggest ever baby booms’.

Collections director Mike Jordan said: “The zoo is currently in the midst of one of its biggest ever baby booms.

“We put these conservation breeding successes down to a whole range of factors – years of careful planning, top class facilities, skilled zookeepers and animal staff, first rate husbandry and scientific insight.

“Every birth helps us to raise awareness of the survival pressures that many species around the planet are faced with and the conservation work we are doing to try and protect them.

“Javan green magpies hatching here, for example, 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.”