This endangered siamang gibbon certainly gets the hump if its surrogate mother – a stuffed toy camel – is not around at feeding time ... and actually cries like a human baby.

The 10-day-old female, who has yet to be named, was starving to death and weighed just 510 grams after her mother failed to produce any milk.

Sadie Garland, primate keeper at Noah's Ark Zoo in Bristol, stepped in – with the help of the stuffed camel and a feeding pipette. She sleeps in an intensive care incubator, donated by the Bristol Royal Infirmary, during the day and goes home with Sadie at night.

Sadie said: ''It was decided it would be in the best interest of the baby to intervene. We have given the baby gibbon a toy camel which she cuddles all day.

"She is fragile but is progressing well and we are hopeful that she will eventually be put back in with mum and dad."