An animal centre in Dartford has been a flurry of activity with an escaped parrot on the loose and the birth of one of the rarest sheep in the world, all happening within a few days.

Staff at Artisan Rare Breeds spent much of Friday (March 21) running about after the Amazonian bird and put an appeal out on Facebook to try and track down the owner.

These creatures are native to the New World ranging from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean.

The centre’s owner, Wayne May, told News Shopper he believes the parrot could have flown the roost from more than 30 miles away.

He said: "We put a message out to see if anyone was missing a parrot and a family in Sittingbourne said they’d lost one of this description around six weeks ago.

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"We just noticed it this morning, it’s been trying to eat the chicken corn.

"We’ve put traps out to get it down because it’s flying all over the place, we’re hoping to check if it belongs to the family and return it to them.

"It was only on Monday we had a male Cameroon lamb birth, of one of the rarest sheep in the world. It is the 651st birth of this species.

"They’re a dwarf type of sheep so he’s quite small, he measured in at 1lb 4oz.

"He’s been enjoying the sunshine this morning and running about."

Mr May revealed in December last year how the centre cared for more than 800 animals, many of them donated after owners failed to afford to afford them.

Call 07873350701 or email Artisanrarebreeds@gmail.com