The harvest mouse is under threat because of habitat destruction, modern farming methods and pesticides.

Now university experts at the Cumbria Campus at Newton Rigg, near Penrith are to launch a breeding programme.

The animals will be released and tagged so their life in the wild can be monitored.

Breeding programme

Dr Andrew Ramsey, head of the animal care unit at the university, said: "We have taken charge of four breeding pairs from Chester Zoo.

"It is part of a captive breeding programme spearheaded by the North of England Zoological Society.

"Reintroducing beavers and wolves into Britain grab all the headlines, but saving smaller animals like harvest mice is just as important."

The animals only grow to about seven centimetres in length and usually weigh about the same as a 20p piece.

Dr Ramsey added: "Harvest mice are very secretive animals and have been poorly studied, compared to other British mammals.

Population decline

"They are an important part of the natural ecology, providing food for birds of prey like kestrels.

"But evidence shows their population has declined rapidly in recent years."

Experts think there are only a small number left in Cumbria and the rest of the UK.

The offspring of the Cumbrian breeding pairs will be released into a specially prepared site in Cheshire.