Baby Sloth Edward Being Raised By Teddy Bear

Animal handlers at London Zoo are using an unusual surrogate parent for the zoo's latest baby - a teddy bear from the gift shop.

Edward the baby sloth was born seven weeks ago to second-time parents Marilyn and Leander, but Marilyn stopped producing milk and was unable to care for him.

The baby - named for his impressive claws, reminiscent of Johnny Depp's film character Edward Scissorhands - would normally build up his muscles by holding onto mum while feeding.

So zookeeper Kelly-Anne Kelleher customised the sloth-teddy with carabiners so it can be hung from a branch and Edward can climb on and strengthen his growing limbs.

She said: "We’re bottle-feeding Edward every three hours with goat’s milk, topped up with some vitamins to keep him fit and healthy.

"Just like with human baby formula, we heat it up until it’s at room temperature, and test its warmth on our wrists – it took him a few days to get used to the bottle, but now he’s hungrily sucking as soon as we give it to him.

"If he’s feeling particularly hungry he makes a very funny noise to let us know – a sound somewhere between a squeak and a sneeze, but it’s very loud and he makes his point."

The nocturnal animals, native to South America, are very slow and little Edward is no exception.

Ms Kelleher often has to wait for him to stir from a very deep sleep before he is able to be fed.

Edward, whose claws will eventually grow up to four inches long, lives in the Rainforest Life home in the zoo and is watched closely, even having his bowel movements tracked during his weekly departure from the trees to go to the toilet.

This means the experts can keep an eye on any weight loss or weight gain and make sure the new baby is doing well.