Highland calf born two months premature at Northumberland Zoo celebrates 'should-have-been' birthday

• Report by Gemma Cole

A highland cattle calf has battled against the odds and celebrated his expected birth date after being born eight weeks premature at Northumberland Zoo.

Calves that are more than three weeks premature are not usually expected to survive more than one to two days due to their lack of development.

Dozer, as he is now named, has been incredibly strong since he was born and was given his name after bull-dozing into staffs’ legs.

He was so small the Zoo had to come up with a special sized teat for his milk bottles as his mouth could not fit around those created for newborn calves.

Dozer was also wrongly thought to have been blind for the first ten days of his life, but this was due to his eyesight not yet being fully developed.

Keepers took turns in taking Dozer home as he needed frequent feeds throughout the night and to be kept warm.

Sam Prescott from Robson and Prescott’s Veterinary Surgery says: "That such a calf should be born alive so prematurely is incredible and certainly not something the vets in our practice have ever experienced.

"The little calf was reliant on a number of veterinary interventions in his first three weeks of life to help mature his lungs, support his hydration & nutrition, treat infections and help correct a life-threatening drop in his blood pH.”

Lucy Edwards, Head Keeper at Northumbria Zoo says: "We were happy to keep going with him as he had so much will to live, if he kept trying, we did too.

"Some days were so difficult and we thought we were going to lose him and the next day he would be up and running around, he kept us on our toes!"

The Zoo celebrated Dozer’s ‘should-have-been-birthday’ on Friday 24 June, attracting large crowds of zoo-goers.

"It's been a brilliant experience this morning. The children have been very excited to come and see him," said one.

"He's absolutely amazing. He's just a little miracle isn't he? So cute," said another.

Zoo Curator, Maxine Bradley added: "This is not something that we would normally celebrate, however, Dozer is not a normal calf and he has truly surprised everyone."