A black American vulture chick is one of a number of youngsters making their debut at Paultons Park, near Romsey, this summer.

Christened "Custard" - all this year's arrivals are being given the names of food - the chick had to be helped into the world by head keeper, Geoff Masson.

Even before Custard reached this stage, its future was in the balance. Its mother deserted the nest and the egg, which had grown quite cold, had to be kept in an incubator.

Helping the infant out of the shell was no easy matter. "Custard is a very large chick," Geoff explained. Examining the egg with a strong light, he could tell it was ready to emerge, but once it had broken through the internal membrane it wasn't strong enough to get through the shell.

Geoff says great care has to be taken when helping a chick out of its shell. "You have to make sure you don't rupture a blood vessel, because it could bleed to death," he said.

So far, no-one knows the sex of the chick. To find out, Geoff will have to send off a feather to be DNA- tested.

More youngsters are expected. Paultons has a pregnant meerkat which is expected to produce her brood in a couple of weeks' time.

Acquired about six months ago from Gatwick Zoo, which has since closed, the group consists of three males and two females.

The meerkats live in a purpose-built enclosure which they have occupied for the last two months. The incubation period for meerkats is 75 days and usually four or five kittens are born. They are about the same size as domestic kittens.

Keeping the food theme in the naming of its new babies, staff have called their newly-arrived kookaburra chick "Rhubarb".

Its parents have produced about 30 chicks over the past 15 years, but are getting a bit old now. Like Custard, Rhubarb was hatched, on April 1st, after a spell in an incubator. "They get fed up, sitting on the egg," Geoff explained.

New this year is the African Aviary, the biggest at Paultons. Among the species here are green crested-touracos and African crested cranes. The cranes, a group of three sisters and an unrelated male, are settling in well.

New rides being offered for the first time this year include the Wave Runner ride an exciting family water coaster where participant whoosh down a trough of fast-moving water in a rubber dinghy. The Flying Frog, another newcomer, is a minicoaster for younger children.

Paultons programme of special events begins on May 17th-18th with The Simpsons, followed by Rugrats on June 21st-22nd.