One of the world's most endangered crocodiles laid dozens of eggs at the Cotswold Wildlife Park today, to the delight of her keepers.

Morticia, a Morelet's crocodile, a species listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Reserves, produced 39 eggs in her enclosure in the Reptile House.

Staff at the Burford park later removed the eggs from the nest and transferred them to an incubator in front of a crowd of fascinated visitors.

Iri Gill, who looks after the park's crocodiles, stressed the importance of the eggs to the continued survival of the species.

He said: "Ours are the only Morelet's crocodiles in the UK and, as far as we're aware, the only ones producing eggs in Europe."

Morticia and her mate Gomez - named after the Addams Family TV characters - produced eggs last year, but they did not hatch.

Mr Gill, who has studied crocodiles in India and joined the park three months ago, believes new features in their cage mean they will be more successful this time.

He said: "This year we have brought in a lot of measures that should make the difference. Generally, the captive environment makes it harder to get the balance of temperatures that the crocodiles need, so new features such as ultra violet lights will help."

Shelly Haste, a chef at the park's restaurant, said there was a real buzz among the staff.

She added: "It's a very exciting day, and everyone has been talking about it and had to come and see it."

The eggs, which are speckled white and weigh about 50g each, will be incubated for 80 days until they hatch.

Park curator David Edgington said: "Once the eggs have hatched, the youngsters should help attract visitors. We can therefore educate people about species they wouldn't normally give a second thought to."

The Morelet's crocodile, which comes from central America, was almost hunted to extinction in the 1950s. Hunting them is now illegal.