Flamingo Land has recently welcomed some new furry residents to its site.

The theme park, which is located in Kirby Misperton, has discovered three wild European otters in their lakes and nearby water courses.

Footage taken from a camera trap shows a small family of 'Lutra Lutra' that were on the verge of extinction in the UK nearly 50 years ago and are still listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

A spokesperson from Flamingo Land has confirmed that they have seen the female with at least one pup.

They added: "This is not only incredible for the species but also is a great reward for the continued work being done to conserve native animals and habitats."

Flamingo Land has award-winning animal care and conservation programmes, which aim to conserve the habitats and wildlife found locally and this shows that the hard work is paying off.

The European otter population is considered largely depleted in the wild and it declined dramatically because of habitat destruction, pesticides and poor water quality.

Their sighting around the lakes and Costa Beck watercourse at Flamingo Land shows the health and cleanliness of its water.

This conservation success follows on from Flamingo Land’s recent work in aiding in European beaver reintroductions back into North Yorkshire and London.

Flamingo Land hopes to build on this success and would like to see more native species returning to the site and it currently has planned projects for white-clawed crayfish and red squirrels.