Zoo's burrowing owls are forced to take shelter from summer rains

Three baby burrowing owls have been forced to take shelter from unpredictable summer weather.

Huey, Dewy and Lewy have been brought into London Zoo's incubation unit because heavy rain threatened to flood the underground nest box they were born in. Their adopted father, zoo keeper Darren Jordan, is feeding them on cut meat three times a day and making sure their temperatures are kept between 27 and 29 degrees. He said: "The chicks are doing really well."

The first born at the zoo since 1987, the 3in-tall owlets already have their own personalities, so Mr Jordan can tell them apart. They will be returned to their real parents in about a month. Burrowing owls, native to north and south America, are the only breed of the birds that live under the earth because they live in deserts, where there aren't any trees.