KEEPERS at Chester Zoo have stepped up to hand-rear an orphaned baby dik-dik antelope.

Thanos, the one-month-old dik-dik lost his mum shortly after she gave birth to him on Sunday, January 8.

The 19-centimetre tall youngster is now being bottle fed by staff five times a day by assistant team manager Kim Wood and keeper Barbara Dreyer.

Kim said: "The youngster is beginning to find his feet now and is really starting to hold his own. He is doing ever so well and is getting stronger by the day.

"We're hopeful that, in a few months' time, we'll be able to introduce him to some od the other members of our group of dik-diks.

"He may be tiny but he is certainly making a big impression on everyone at the zoo."

Native to North East Africa, Kirk's dik-dik antelopes grow to around 40 centimetres in height and mark their territory with fluid from glands between their toes and under their eyes.

The species takes its name from a 19th century Scottish naturalist Sir John Kirk as well from the sound it makes when it feels threatened.