Hundreds of wild birds have flocked to Longleat Safari Park near Warminster to line their nests with moulting hair from the park's six camels.

The birds, mainly jackdaws, have flocked to the enclosure to pick dead hair of fthe ground and off the animals themselves.

Longleat's deputy warden Ian Turner said: "We have six Bactrian Camels in the park and all have started moulting in the last couple of weeks.

"We have noticed a marked increase in the number of birds in the camel enclosure during this time with a strong predominance of jackdaws.

"These cheeky things are landing on the camels' backs, taking a quick grab at the dead hair before flying back to their nests.

"It's difficult to imagine the sheer quantity of hair that comes off each camel. If you can assume around eight bin bags per camel however, that may give you some idea of how much these birds are pinching and taking away.

"You can just imagine the deluxe nature of these nests."

The Bactrian Camel can be easily recognised from its nearest relative, the Dromedary, as it has two humps rather than one.

It is native to the rocky deserts of central and eastern Asia and is well adjusted to climatic extremes.

Its humps are used to store fat which can be converted to energy when enduring long periods without water or food.

Camels rarely sweat which enables them to conserve fluids for long periods of time. They can also drink vast quantities of water when it is available - a very thirsty animal can drink 135 litres (30 gallons) of water in only 13 minutes.

It is listed as critically endangered in the wild with probably less than 950 wild camels still surviving in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and China.