EIGHT rare African wild dog pups have been born for the first time at Chester Zoo.

The labour was caught on 'den cams' and keepers spotted mum K’mana going into labour shortly after 11:30am on Sunday, November 19 - watching remotely via CCTV as she gave birth to her first pup at 11:42am.

The last of the litter arrived at around 6pm.

They are also known as painted dogs because of the multicoloured pattern on their fur, they are supreme predators, working together to bring down prey many times their size.

Team manager of Carnivores at the zoo Dave Hall said: “Painted dogs are incredibly impressive, beautiful animals and the pups are hugely significant new arrivals.

"They are first to be bred at the zoo bringing important new blood to the international breeding programme for the species- an initiative which is providing a safety net population for the endangered animals.

“We estimate it will be another five or six weeks until the pups are taken out of their underground den and into the open by their mum, K’mana, as their eyes remain closed for a number of weeks after birth.

"For the time being, carnivore experts here are excitedly keeping a close eye on their progress via remote cameras.

"K’mana, so far, seems to be doing an excellent job – making sure her new charges are getting sufficient milk.”

Despite their fearsome reputation they are one of Africa’s most threatened carnivores and are listed as endangered.

Mike Jordan, the zoo’s Collections director said: “Painted dogs are now one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores, due to the huge territories they need to survive, much larger than most other carnivores.

"There may now be fewer than 1,500 breeding African wild dogs left.

“They have been severely persecuted across the continent for many decades.

"In the early parts of the 20th century, colonial settlers exterminated African wild dog populations in many areas simply because their method of pack hunting was seen as unsporting.

"As human populations have increased in Africa the numbers of painted dogs have dropped steeply as their habitat is converted to farmland and villages expanded.

"This puts them in direct conflict with local people, where they are hunted and poisoned for killing livestock and exposed to infectious diseases transferred from domestic dogs.

“Time is running out for them but, through our long-standing conservation support in Africa, we’re working very hard to change this.”