FATHER Jamie Craig had to play mother to a leopard cub after it was found abandoned by its real mum at just a day old.

But there was one thing the Cotswold Wildlife Park curator was not prepared to do.

The 42-year-old, who lives with his wife Nicolette, who is the wildlife park’s education officer, and their two children son Jai, 13, and daughter Niemi, 10, said: “When a leopard goes to the toilet, the mother will lick it, but I’m not that committed. Wet cotton wool worked just as well.”

Nimbus the female cub spent six weeks at the Craig family home, which is on the zoo site near Burford, living in a pet carry cage in the bathroom.

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And the couple’s children, who regularly help out around the zoo, were more than happy to play older siblings.

Mr Craig, who has worked at the park for eight years, said: “We take home-rearing very seriously. We don’t do it that often.”

Niemi said: “She liked to prance around in the bathroom. She liked eating teddies.”

Jai said: “It was quite fun. It was very different to having a dog. She was a bit savage.”

The clouded leopard originates from South East Asia and is an endangered species. Nobody knows why her mother abandoned the cub, which was discovered “in a weakened state” and unlikely to have survived another hour.

Newborn leopards sleep almost around the clock, except for feeding.

The family initially started giving Nimbus milk six times a day every four hours, dutifully recording everything that went in, and everything that came out.

And while it was easy for the family to form an emotional attachment to their temporary third child, they could not allow the leopard to develop an attachment to humans. Nimbus, who at two months is now eating pigeon and rabbit, has since returned to the park.

Instead of being returned to her mother, Nimbus will live in an enclosure near the adult leopards until she is big enough to be introduced to one of her older siblings. The park has five leopards in total.

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