Keepers at Bristol Zoo Gardens are celebrating the birth of an unusual endangered species.

A baby Malagasy giant jumping rat has been born in the zoo's nocturnal house – Twilight World – after a "love match" was made to help boost the European captive population.

Bristol Zoo has not bred this unusual, rabbit-like species for more than four years, so a female jumping rat was brought in from a zoo in Prague in the hope that she would breed with the zoo's male.

They were introduced in November and within weeks the female was pregnant, giving birth in a quiet, off-show enclosure in January.

Now the new family has gone on show in Twilight World for the first time.

Katie Cummins, a small mammal keeper at Bristol Zoo, said: "The birth of this baby is great news for Bristol Zoo as well as for the European captive breeding population. The baby is doing very well, gaining strength and becoming more adventurous, but it still stays close to mum and dad who are proving to be very attentive new parents."

The sex of the baby is still unknown but keepers are keeping a close eye on the youngster.

Giant jumping rats are only found in Madagascar – a large island off the east coast of southern Africa.

The species is listed on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List for endangered species, with a decreasing population, currently estimated at around 11,000. It is predicted that the species could be extinct in the wild within about 24 years.