A newborn aardvark at Chester Zoo is being hand-reared by keepers after its mother struggled to produce enough milk.

The calf, nicknamed "Womble" by staff because of its long snout, wrinkled skin and oversized claws, is only the second aardvark born at the zoo in its 94-year history.

Womble was born healthy, but mum Oni wasn't producing enough milk to fully support the youngster.

As aardvarks are naturally nocturnal animals, keepers stepped in to provide supplementary feeds throughout the night for several weeks while Oni headed off to forage for food.

Zookeeper Sophie Tyson said: "While we don't yet know whether the calf is male or female, as it's a little too young for us to tell, the nickname 'Womble' has definitely stuck.

"For the first few weeks, we placed the youngster into a cosy incubator each evening and it was bottle-fed warm milk every few hours throughout the night before being carefully reunited back with mum each morning.

"Womble has gone from strength to strength and is doing brilliantly, so now lives fulltime back with mum Oni - and it's wonderful to see them snuggled up side-by-side together."

With only 68 aardvarks in European zoos and just 114 worldwide, Chester Zoo is one of just a few organisations caring for the species.

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Aardvarks are native to sub-Saharan Africa, where they face threats from habitat loss caused by agricultural development. They are also hunted for meat in some areas.

The nocturnal animals use their long snouts and powerful claws to dig for ants and termites underground, while their 25cm tongues help them feed quickly.