Watch: Head-turning new arrivals with unique feature land at exotic zoo

After 12 weeks acclimatising to their new home, four Roti Island Snake-necked Turtles, are now out and settling into their new surroundings.

The creatures, which hail from Rote, an Island of Indonesia, look like what everyone expects from a turtle – apart from their astonishingly long necks.

The quartet, made up of two males and two females, are around the size of a dinner plate, but zoo-goers will be stunned at their snake-like necks, which are nearly as long as their shells.

With the creatures now critically endangered in the wild, Scott Adams, the owner of the Exotic Zoo, said that as well as allowing people to see an incredibly rare and unusual animal, the new guests would also be used to spread the message about the impact habitat loss is having on at-risk species.

He said: "People are used to kind of seeing turtles with little short necks, and the whole purpose of a turtle is their short neck pulls their head into their shell for protection. That was the main evolutionary change and why they would not normally have long necks.

"But there is still a line of turtles that have these extra long necks, and they give them an advantage so they can shoot out their neck to get fish or other creatures as they go past."

Although their long necks might look a hindrance when it comes to hiding inside their shells, Scott explained that they can still hide away, by concertinaing their neck inside the carapace.

He said people were already enjoying the chance to see the zoo's latest arrivals.

He said: "They seem like they have got a big smile of their faces and the ones we have are friendly and adventurous. They are a really engaging species and we have had lots of really, really cool feedback about them.

"Now they are in the enclosure they are out all the time and people are able to see them. We have built them an amazing enclosure with a pond and a waterfall and it is really well designed for their needs."

He added: "They are also great for talking about conservation and the risk of animals becoming extinct too.

"They are critically endangered in the wild, on the brink of extinction. Habitat loss is the main reason and that is why we are really eager and passionate in talking about the importance of saving these habitats.

"You can take them into captivity and breed hundreds or thousands of them but unless the problem of the habitat loss is solved then it is not going to make a difference how many you breed because they cannot survive in the wild."