The Austrian Minister of Labour, Martin Kocher, becomes the godfather and sponsor of capybara offspring at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo.

The zoo had recently decided to ban public naming of animals to raise awareness of endangered species.

In a video, the zoo director hands over a sponsorship certificate to the minister, who expresses his enthusiasm for the role.

In a statement obtained from the Schoenbrunn Zoo, Kocher said: "In May 2022, I was sworn in as a federal minister in what is now the Federal Ministry of Labor and Economics and was therefore also responsible for animals for the first time as the owner's representative of Schoenbrunn Zoo. A week later capybaras were born in Schoenbrunn. For me, that was a sign that I should one day become the capybaras' godfather."

Capybaras, the largest living rodents native to South America, are listed as "Least Concern" on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.

[Note: undated footage]