Chester Zoo has released the first video of a critically endangered Coquerel’s sifaka baby, also known as "dancing lemur", that was recently born at the UK zoo.

Born on September 21 to mum Beatrice, 11, and dad Elliot, 10, the rare baby lemur weighs around 120 grams (0.26 pounds) and came to the world after a five-month gestation.

Footage filmed in December showed the animal, which was born under the zoo's conservation breeding program, attached to its mother, chewing on sticks and branches.

Lemur babies ride on their mother's back for about three months until they are ready to explore the world on their own.

Experts at the zoo say that will be the time when they will find out the gender of the baby.

Coquerel’s sifakas, native to Madagascar, are also known as dancing lemurs for the way they spring across the floor.

The animals stand perfectly upright and use their powerful legs to spring from side to side.

They can leap more than 20 feet through the treetops in a single bound.

Dancing lemurs grow up to two feet tall and weigh around 4 kilograms.

The animals are one of the world's most threatened primates and face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild due mainly to deforestation in Madagascar.

The Coquerel’s sifaka population has declined by 80% in the past 30 years due to habitat loss.

Chester Zoo is the only zoo in the UK, and one of three in Europe, to care for the animals.

Madagascar, which hosts more than 100 species of lemur, is the only place where these animals are found in the wild.