Photo: Newquay Zoo

Head Keeper Dave Rich of the Newquay Zoo is hand-rearing a rare jungle animal. The female Owston’s civet was born at Newquay Zoo in early April.

The Newquay Zoo’s head zookeeper is taking extra care of their new little member.

“She is important to the future of her species, we couldn’t risk losing her,” Rich explained on the site.

Newquay Zoo

Head Keeper Dave Rich of the Newquay Zoo is hand-rearing a rare jungle animal. The female Owston’s civet was born at Newquay Zoo in early April.

The new female, which is a native species of Vietnam, Laos and China, is one of only 17 civets currently living in captivity, according to theBBC.She was born a triplet, though sadly her two siblings were stillborn.

“She’s incredibly cute,” Rich said on the zoo’s website. “She has a very quirky little routine – she’s far too busy wanting to make noise, explore and wrestle with the bottle for the first two attempts and then almost every time takes the bottle on the third try and guzzles the lot!”

Head Keeper Dave Rich of the Newquay Zoo is hand-rearing a rare jungle animal. The female Owston’s civet was born at Newquay Zoo in early April.

He even takes her home with him on his days off, wanting to make sure she receives the care she needs to survive.

There has only been one other civet who was hand-raised, but she died after two months, never making it to adulthood, the BBC reported.

So far, the new little civet is doing well, according to the zoo’s website. She’s “strong and lively,” eating well and sleeping between meals.

The Newquay Zoo has five other adult Owston civets, and is known to successfully breed the rare species. According to the BBC, the last civets who successfully grew to adulthood were brought up at the Newquay Zoo three years ago.

source: people.com