A boy who was raised with hyenas has now become the UK's youngest bird of prey handler at just four years old.
Archie Ames was raised with the African animals in The Gambia, but the youngster has now turned his hand to eagles at his family's wildlife park after moving to Kent.
The child, due to start school in September, is fast becoming an expert - despite being born with a hole in his diaphragm, which could have left him needing an oxygen tank.
Archie practises with various birds from a bald eagle called Alaska to tawny eagles, despite their 12ft wingspan being three times his height.
His mother Sam, 25, of Eynsford, Kent, said: 'He was one-and-a-half when he started handling owls, and it was just a natural progression upwards.
'My dad is a zoologist, and he's gone all over the world studying birds - so has my brother Jonny, who started about the same age as Archie.
'It just seemed like a natural thing to do, Archie saw them handling the birds and wanted to do the same.
'Archie loves absolutely anything to do with animals, natural history, or anything along those lines.
'We have a lot of experience handling birds of prey in the family, my brother has more than 25 years' worth of experience, and Archie is very much following in his footsteps so far.
'He is potentially the youngest eagle handler in the country, I know there are lots of families that handle birds of prey and would encourage their children to try it - but few have access to the equipment and birds we do.'
Archie was diagnosed with a rare condition shortly after birth when the hole in his diaphragm was found - causing him to be rushed to hospital at just three weeks old.
Ms. Ames, co-director of Eagle Heights Wildlife Trust, added: 'It's amazing really considering people with congenital diaphragmatic hernias only have a 50 per cent chance of living.
'Part of Archie's stomach had protruded into his lung causing it to collapse, so he was having open surgery at just four weeks old to correct it.
'At one point we were told he might not survive 24 hours, and he was put in an induced coma on life support.
'They called him the magic baby though - he responded to all the treatments, a lot of them quicker than he should have.
'We've been very lucky, he's been fully discharged now but many children have to carry oxygen afterwards and can require further treatment.
'I think he was born special.'
Despite being just over a metre tall, Archie is able to handle bald eagle Alaska, who measures around a two metre wingspan and weighs nearly 14 pounds.
Archie's uncle Jonny, 30, is always on hand to help with the birds, and helps the young boy cope with the huge birds of prey.
Ms. Ames said: 'My brother is always with Archie to help, given that Alaska is so heavy.
'I don't really see any risk at all as the birds are very well trained and my brother is always on hand to help and he would know exactly how to spot any unusual behaviour in the birds at all.
'It does look very strange and quite funny when this huge eagle is coming towards his glove, but my brother is always poised next to him.'
Archie, who dreams of being a paleontologist, lived in The Gambia for two years.
Ms. Ames, Archie and her parents Sally, 54 and Alan, 61, moved to Africa for conservation work shortly before Archie turned one.
The proud mother said the family's time there shaped 'larger than life' Archie's happy personality.
She added: 'With the time he spent in Gambia, he's really confident with people now and is always saying hello to everyone we go past - I can really imagine him going on to do something special.
'He took his first steps and learnt to speak there, it's a fond part of his heart and he's able to do things with animals that people here couldn't dream of.
'We're such an unconventional family, and being in Gambia really shaped his character.
'He's larger than life, and really naturally happy and friendly thanks to the Gambian culture - they call it the smiling coast of Africa.'
Archie Ames was raised with the African animals in The Gambia, but the youngster has now turned his hand to eagles at his family's wildlife park after moving to Kent.
The child, due to start school in September, is fast becoming an expert - despite being born with a hole in his diaphragm, which could have left him needing an oxygen tank.
Archie practises with various birds from a bald eagle called Alaska to tawny eagles, despite their 12ft wingspan being three times his height.
His mother Sam, 25, of Eynsford, Kent, said: 'He was one-and-a-half when he started handling owls, and it was just a natural progression upwards.
'My dad is a zoologist, and he's gone all over the world studying birds - so has my brother Jonny, who started about the same age as Archie.
'It just seemed like a natural thing to do, Archie saw them handling the birds and wanted to do the same.
'Archie loves absolutely anything to do with animals, natural history, or anything along those lines.
'We have a lot of experience handling birds of prey in the family, my brother has more than 25 years' worth of experience, and Archie is very much following in his footsteps so far.
'He is potentially the youngest eagle handler in the country, I know there are lots of families that handle birds of prey and would encourage their children to try it - but few have access to the equipment and birds we do.'
Archie was diagnosed with a rare condition shortly after birth when the hole in his diaphragm was found - causing him to be rushed to hospital at just three weeks old.
Ms. Ames, co-director of Eagle Heights Wildlife Trust, added: 'It's amazing really considering people with congenital diaphragmatic hernias only have a 50 per cent chance of living.
'Part of Archie's stomach had protruded into his lung causing it to collapse, so he was having open surgery at just four weeks old to correct it.
'At one point we were told he might not survive 24 hours, and he was put in an induced coma on life support.
'They called him the magic baby though - he responded to all the treatments, a lot of them quicker than he should have.
'We've been very lucky, he's been fully discharged now but many children have to carry oxygen afterwards and can require further treatment.
'I think he was born special.'
Despite being just over a metre tall, Archie is able to handle bald eagle Alaska, who measures around a two metre wingspan and weighs nearly 14 pounds.
Archie's uncle Jonny, 30, is always on hand to help with the birds, and helps the young boy cope with the huge birds of prey.
Ms. Ames said: 'My brother is always with Archie to help, given that Alaska is so heavy.
'I don't really see any risk at all as the birds are very well trained and my brother is always on hand to help and he would know exactly how to spot any unusual behaviour in the birds at all.
'It does look very strange and quite funny when this huge eagle is coming towards his glove, but my brother is always poised next to him.'
Archie, who dreams of being a paleontologist, lived in The Gambia for two years.
Ms. Ames, Archie and her parents Sally, 54 and Alan, 61, moved to Africa for conservation work shortly before Archie turned one.
The proud mother said the family's time there shaped 'larger than life' Archie's happy personality.
She added: 'With the time he spent in Gambia, he's really confident with people now and is always saying hello to everyone we go past - I can really imagine him going on to do something special.
'He took his first steps and learnt to speak there, it's a fond part of his heart and he's able to do things with animals that people here couldn't dream of.
'We're such an unconventional family, and being in Gambia really shaped his character.
'He's larger than life, and really naturally happy and friendly thanks to the Gambian culture - they call it the smiling coast of Africa.'
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Source: Daily Mail, Kent Live News
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