Colchester Zoo announce the arrival of two new ostrich hens

The ostrich flock at the Maldon Road attraction has grown by two after the ostrich hens, which have been named Daphne and Daisy, arrived from a farm.

They have spent the past month being cared for in a special behind the scenes area whilst they settled into their new surroundings.

With the average life span for this species ranging from 30 to 45 years old, both Daphne and Daisy are considered young at only around eight years old.

A spokesman said: "Over the past fortnight, our Animal Care Team have slowly introduced our two new ladies to our resident hen, Doris.

"All three ostriches will share their home together at Kingdom of the Wild, and over the next few weeks, will slowly be introduced to the other species that they will share their home with including our maneless zebra, reticulated giraffe and southern white rhino.

"Daphne and Daisy have a greyish-brown plumage making them easy to tell apart from their male counterparts that have a black plumage when mature. This makes the females easy to tell apart from males."

Daphne and Daisy were transferred from an ostrich farm (Image: Colchester Zoo)

Ostriches are the largest bird on the planet standing at over 2m tall.

Although these magnificent birds may be flightless, what they lack in flying they make up for in speed and can reach running speeds of up to 43 miles per hour across the African plain.

The spokesman added: "Whilst their legs are great for running, they are also used for self defence and are powerful enough to kill a predator with a single kick.

"Not only do our girls top the chart for being the largest species of bird, but they also have the largest eye of any land animal, reaching two inches wide.

"Their abnormally large eyes may help them to keep an eye out for predators but leaves little space for their brain. Therefore, their eye is actually larger than their brain."

Ostriches are currently classed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.