A pet dog has come to the rescue of a wolf pup and a panther cub.The dog became the mother of this unlikely family.

After the panther cub's mother couldn't produce enough milk to feed her offspring. So after two, the dog kindly stepped in to act as wet nurse! The wolf cub joined the family five days later when its mother had the same problem.

Li Hongxi Zookeeper tell us: After the mother panther gave birth to its baby, it didn't produce enough milk, so we took a dog that had also just given birth to some puppies.And used her to take care of the panther. The panther and dog have developped a close bond. But it took them a while to get used to each other.

Because dogs' bodies smell differnt 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 says Li Hongxi.


With her own litter to feed, it's hard work for the mother dog. So it's a good job that the panther and the wolf will move onto to cow's milk after a month explains zookeeper.