ODO the gibbon was set to be one of the star attractions over Easter at North Yorkshire theme park Flamingo Land.

Odo was rejected by his mother when he was born six weeks ago, weighing only 1lb.

But Flamingo Land keepers Sam de Belle and Jamie Tapper stepped in to play mum and dad, and Odo is now thriving.

Odo's surrogate mum and dad take it in turns to feed their little baby, who has a bottle every two hours.

They were thrilled when he took his first few bites of a banana this week.

Sam said: "Odo has definitely brought myself and Jamie closer together. We have shared the feeding shifts between us, and the joy we have got from caring for Odo has brought out our parental instincts."

Updated: 10:30 Saturday, March 30, 2002