A CLUTCH of rare baby forest dragons have hatched at Chester Zoo.

Also known as The Bell's anglehead lizard, the four tiny lizards are now helping reptile conservationists discover some of the secrets about how they live.

The reptiles are usually found in parts of South East Asia but experts say little it known about the mysterious creatures.

There are no records of how many species are left as no population estimates have been carried out so experts do not know just how threatened the species may be.

Lead keeper of reptiles at the zoo Matt Cook said: "The Bell’s anglehead lizard is an elusive a little-understood species.

"Reliable information about them is incredibly scarce, so much so that even to reptile experts they are somewhat of a mystery.

"What we do know is that, as their name suggests, these forest dragons live in forests in South East Asia.

"This is habitat which, across the region, is being completely decimated to make way for unsustainable palm oil plantations – a threat which is pushing all manner of species, big and small, to the very edge of existence.

"Breeding these rare lizards at the zoo allows us to increase our knowledge of the species.

"For example, we’ve already discovered that their incubation period is between 151 and 155 days; that they reach sexual maturity at around three-years-old and that the females deposit up to four eggs per clutch in a small burrow in deep soil."

The recently hatched youngsters are currently being cared for in a special behind-the-scenes rearing facility at the zoo but visitors can see their parents in the zoo's Realm of the Red Ape habitat.