The birth of an ultra-rare bat which was born upside down has been captured on camera for the first time.

Footage shows the critically endangered Livingstone’s fruit bat entering the world at Northumberland Zoo.

It is believed to be the first time a birth of one of the bats has ever been caught on film.

Keepers realised mum Selene was in labour when she showed signs of discomfort and was licking herself on Mother’s Day afternoon (19/3).

For the next few hours, Selene kept flipping herself over and hanging from her thumbs as she tried to use gravity to help the birthing process.

After around two hours of labour, Selene made one final flip and pushed the pup out.

Remarkable video shows the pup hanging in mid-air from just the umbilical cord for a nerve-wracking 11 seconds.

Selene then flipped herself upside down again to allow the pup - whose sex has not yet been established - to grab onto her.

As the mothers become more experienced with pups, the duration of time that the pups spend suspended by their umbilical cord is reduced.

The pup’s instinct is to manoeuvre itself towards the mother’s teat which is located under their armpit.

This allows the pups to attach themselves and stay safe whilst the mothers fly around and feed.

Keepers were stunned when another female bat, called Sima, immediately rushed over to help Selene clean the new arrival.

Experts say this ‘alloparental’ care behaviour has never been recorded in this species.

Alloparental care refers to an individual giving care to a non-descendant offspring.

Four-year old Sima is also the mother of ‘Hadrian’, a male bat who was the first ever bat pup born at the zoo last November.

A second female, Thea, also gave birth to her first pup over the Mother’s Day weekend.

Livingstone fruit bats are classed as a critically endangered species with just 1,200 left in the wild and 100 in captivity.

Zoo Curator, Maxine Bradley, said: "It was an incredible moment to witness the birth of such a rare species – and to be able to capture it on camera for the world to share this experience with us was breath-taking."

"For a moment there, we thought it was all over as we watched, helplessly, from 20 metres away, but we were then relieved to see Selene pull through and do such a great job."

"Our goal with this exhibit is to change visitor perceptions with regards to bats. "

"These bats have adorable fox-like furry faces, with big Mickey Mouse ears and huge eyes - I want people to fall in love with them and gain a new favourite animal when they visit."