Rare fossa triplets born at Chester Zoo for the first time

For the first time in its 91-year history Chester Zoo has welcomed the birth of a rare trio of fossa triplets. The pups have been hidden away in their den for the first 12 weeks of their lives, looked after by their parents Shala and Isalo, but they have now made their first appearance.

Heart-warming footage released by the conservationists shows the triplets exploring their new habitat and playing together. The zoo revealed that there is one male and two females and names will be chosen for the pups soon, CheshireLive reports.

Rachael Boatwright, zookeeper at Chester Zoo, said: “The fossa is one of the world’s most elusive carnivores and little is currently known about how they live in the wild.

READ MORE: Chester Zoo launches its first ever Halloween trail with spiders, snakes and more

"The birth of Shala’s triplets is therefore a huge cause for celebration – not only are they the first pups to ever be born at our zoo, but their arrival into the endangered species breeding programme will allow us to discover more about their behaviours - from tiny pups all the way to adults.

“This is Shala’s first litter, and while it’s still early days, her three pups are doing great and are now full of confidence as they learn to climb trees and explore together, all under the watchful eye of mum, of course.”

A distant relative of the mongoose, the fossa is a slender, cat-like mammal that’s only found in the forests of Madagascar. The rare carnivore is equipped with a long tail that helps it balance when leaping amongst the tree branches, as well as large eyes that help it to see better at night when hunting for prey such as lemurs, wild pigs and mice.

The fossa is highly threatened as a result of widespread habitat loss in