An extremely rare 'dinosaur' bird - the only one of its kind in the UK - is patiently waiting for a lifelong mate to help save her entire species. Abou the female shoebill that has recently arrived at Exmoor Zoo as part of an international breeding programme to save her species.
Abou, who is 14, was born and bred inside Pairi Daiza Zoo in Belgium. The lovesick bird has been greeting her keepers with displays of bowing and spreading her wings - a common courtship ritual.
She has been moved to the UK to wait while the breeding programme produces a male bird, so the pair can be matched and produce much-needed offspring.
"Due to agricultural practices - such as pouring chemicals into rivers, intensive farming and of course climate change, shoebills are running out of places to go. They live in countries in central and eastern Africa - like Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania - which are prone to extended periods of doubt, so there is a huge intensity on animals and people who are having to compete for the same environment."
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