THE Welsh Mountain Zoo is celebrating a new arrival - a Margay kitten.

Born to Mum, Sonora and Dad, Maverick, the gender of the kitten is as yet unknown.

The curious youngster has cautiously started to venture out of its nest box and explore its new surroundings.

Charlotte Dykes of the Welsh Mountain Zoo commented: “It’s always so wonderful to welcome new-borns as a result of our incredibly important breeding programmes, such as this with the margays. It’s vital that we continue our work to help conserve a species that are facing threats in the wild through conservation breeding and education.

“Our little kitten is a pleasure to watch as it is gaining confidence by the day.”

The small wild cat is the first kitten to be born to this new parring of cats [established by the European Captive Breeding Programme] at the start of this year, and a cause for celebration amongst the team.

The margay is a fully protected species following a period of hunting and severe exploitation and is classified on the IUCN list the species as "near threatened".