BEING woken at 3am to feed a bawling infant is getting to be a habit for Mark Kenward.

No sooner has he rocked his one-year-old son back to sleep then he has to check on another little fellow, Tao the three-week-old baby lemur.

Mark said: "I thought I'd finished with night-time feeding but since Tao was born I've been getting up at 1am and 3am so I've been feeling rather tired!"

The senior keeper at Drusillas, near Alfriston, adopted Tao after his mother rejected him.

Mark, 22, of Walnut Walk, Polegate, said: "His mother, Liquorice, is quite inexperienced and didn't let him suckle so I'm looking after him for four months until he's old enough to cope as an adult.

"He actually thinks I am his mother - I have to heat a milk drink at seven in the morning and then feed him every four hours.

"I have to simulate his mother's affection by cuddling and stroking Tao and giving him as much affection as possible."

Tao spends most of the time sleeping with one of Sam's teddies in a cardboard box under a heat lamp.

Mark said: "Basically lemurs are usually born in twos and like to cuddle up together at night.

"But since Tao is an only child we needed to find something soft for him to snuggle up with - in this case we chose Ted and they're now practically inseparable."

"But I'm rearing him in such a way that he won't get used to other people and can go back to his parents in three months time without any hitches.

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