Dog adopts panther and wolf

A dog has adopted panther and wolf cubs in a Chinese zoo.

The pooch began feeding the young animals after their real mothers were unable to produce enough milk to nurse them in Beijing's Badaling zoo.

Zookeeper Li Hongxi said staff had to watch the dog closely at first in case she realised the panther was a different species altogether and turned on it.

He said: "Because dogs smell different to panthers, we watched the reaction of the dog as it licked the panther, sniffed it and at times even looked like it was biting it, so we protected it.

"But after two days, the dog got used to the smell of the panther and accepted it more, and even produced more milk."