An 'incredibly rare' and utterly adorable Shetland gosling has just been born at a Scottish wildlife centre.
The tiny ball of fluff was the only chick to hatch this year at the Almond Valley Heritage Centre, in West Lothian, and is now being hand-reared by staff.
The centre currently has two breeding pairs, with the females normally producing around eight to ten eggs.
But this year one of the mums only had two eggs with just one hatching on May 16 - making it even more valuable to the conservation of the rare breed, according to the centre's expert team.
Shetland geese are listed as a priority breed by the Rare Breed Survival Trust (RBST).
The tiny gosling is currently being cared for by staff - with the hope that mum Willow will be able to nest again this year and produce more eggs.
Farm manager Craig Holmes, 33, explained that its being kept with some ducklings for company, he said: "Shetland geese are incredibly rare.
"We have two breeding pairs, with each female normally have between eight and ten eggs, but this year one of the birds only had two eggs.
"We would normally take the eggs off the female to artificially incubate them as each egg is so valuable for conservation, but as she only had two we left her to sit on them.
"Only one hatched so we put the gosling in with some ducklings which had also just hatched to keep it company.
"We are hopefully the female will nest again this year, which is also why we took the baby away as if mum had reared the gosling, she might not have nested again.
"We are hand rearing it, but it doesn't take much work, goslings are pretty low maintenance.
"It is important for us to boost their numbers as they are so rare - they are on the RBST's priority list, which is the highest bracket."
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