Newborn Bruno may be a bit confused as he grows up - his mother is a Sussex farmyard cow but his father is a Tibetan yak.

After an unlikely courtship between Zak the yak and Clover the dexter heifer, the 1ft 9in high cross-breed calf was born at 6am on Monday at a farm near Lewes.

Weighing 3st, Bruno was less than half the weight of a normal calf.

Peter Cottingham, who runs The Farmyard at Whitesmith, said: "We're absolutely over the moon. It was an easy birth and both mother and baby are doing well.

"Yaks have been crossed with all kinds of cattle in the past but to cross with dexters is quite unusual."

The cross-breeding is part of an experiment at The Farmyard, an open farm for youngsters as well as a working farm breeding cows, sheep and chickens.

Mr Cottingham got involved after friends started working for a charity doing aid work in Tibet and Nepal. Volunteers had been trying to breed a smaller form of yak to make them easier to handle.

Mr Cottingham, 56, bought three yaks from a zoo in Oxford and moved them to Whitesmith.

He introduced the one bull and two cows to his herd of cattle and let nature take its course.

Two years later he has a small family of dexter/yak hybrids. Bruno is the second calf to make an appearance this year.

Mr Cottingham said: "We're probably the only farm in the country crossing yaks with dexters. They'll be studied by vets to see how they grow and develop.

"We hope crossing the yak with a smaller breed of cow will benefit the Tibetans and Nepalese. They should be better for milk and meat as well as being easier for people to handle."

The fearsome yak can be found in the Himalayan mountains and is the lifeblood of Tibetan society, where it is used for more than just transporting heavy loads.

It provides food, its hairy hide provides shelter and clothing and its dung is dried and turned into fuel. The butter made from its milk is used in lamp oil which illuminates Buddhist shrines.

Its horns are also carved into objects to ward off evil spirits.

If the experiment is successful it is hoped semen can be shipped abroad to allow cross-breeding overseas.

Mr Cottingham, a farmer for 23 years, said there were few major differences between yaks and dexters and they were compatible.

He said: "The mating process is all very natural - there is no artificial insemination. We just leave them in a field together.

"The main difference between the animals is that yaks are more intelligent - they think things out more. Apart from that they're pretty similar beasts."