Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Finn the tiny tortoise wins fans after hatching at UK safari park

A keeper holds Fin, a new baby pancake tortoise at West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley, (Aaron Chown/PA Wire)
A keeper holds Fin, a new baby pancake tortoise at West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley, (Aaron Chown/PA Wire)

 

A tiny tortoise not much bigger than a 50p piece has hatched at West Midland Safari Park – and proved an instant hit on social media.

The park near Bewdley, Worcestershire, said keepers are in awe of the three-week-old baby pancake tortoise, which has been named Finn.

A keeper holds Fin, a new baby pancake tortoise, next to a 50p coin for scale at West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley (Aaron Chown/PA Wire)

Steve Slater, deputy head of the park’s Discovery Trail, said Finn, who is being fed on vegetation ranging from courgettes to dandelions, was the first baby of the species hatched at the site.

Mr Slater said: “The biggest threat to pancake tortoises is habitat destruction and being taken for the pet trade. Due to its vulnerable status, they are now the subject of a breeding programme in European zoos, which ours are a part of.”

A keeper holds Fin, a new baby pancake tortoise at West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley, Worcestershire. (Aaron Chown/PA Wire)

A video of the tortoise posted on the park’s Facebook page – showing the reptile munching on a leaf – has racked up 192,000 views in less than a week.

Teeny-tiny pancake tortoise has hatched at West Midland Safari…

CUTE ALERT!! 😍 This is Finn, our teeny-tiny baby pancake tortoise ☺️

Posted by West Midland Safari Park on Wednesday, 19 July 2017

In the wild, pancake tortoises inhabit the mountains of Kenya and Tanzania, with a preference for dry areas with rocky outcrops.