New baby coatis at Noah's Ark zoo farm near Nailsea

The size of small teddy bears and looking like cuddly racoons these baby coatis are already taking their first steps at Noah's Ark zoo farm near Nailsea.

The South American coatis were born at the end of April and are beginning to take their first steps into the big wide world outside their cosy nest box – much to the delight of doting visitors.

This is the first time the brown-nosed coatis have bred at Noah's Ark and keepers and grounds staff are just as excited as zoo visitors to get a glimpse of the new arrivals – although the protective mothers are keeping a caring eye on the little ones as they begin to explore their enclosure.

Both female coatis, Coco and Chanel, gave birth to a total of six babies in the last week of April, fathered by proud dad Charlie.

The gestation period for South American coatis is between 74-77 days, with young leaving the nest about a month after birth.

As they grow in confidence; the youngsters will now start following their parents along the various ropes, beams and ladders which make up the large aerial climbing structure designed especially to allow the animals to use their natural foraging and balancing skills.

Noah's Ark keeper Marc Roberts has been keeping an eye on the new coati family.

He said: "The babies are fit and healthy and are beginning to exhibit their natural climbing and exploring behaviours, copying their parents as they search for food around the new enclosure we built for them last summer.

"We're glad our visitors are enjoying seeing them as much as we are."

The 100 acre attraction has had an exceptional year so far with animal births, including in recent weeks baby gibbons, lemurs and reindeer.

And 2011 has also seen the highest visitor numbers on record at the zoo.

Noah's Ark zoo farm at Wraxall is open Monday-Saturday 10.30am-5pm.

For more information about the animals, entry prices and events at Noah's Ark click HERE or phone 01275 852606.

There are now more than 100 sorts of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates at Noah's Ark, including several important species classified as 'endangered' to 'vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List.

These include cotton topped tamarins (critically endangered), white rhinos (near threatened), Brazilian tapirs (vulnerable) and Siamang gibbons (endangered).

Noah's Ark which now attracts more than 130,000 visitors annually was started in 1999 by local farmer Anthony Bush and his artist wife Christina.

Animals include lions, giraffe, zebras, rhinos, tigers, gibbons, camels and 100 other types.

As well as the longest hedge maze in the world, visitors can enjoy huge indoor and outdoor adventure playgrounds.