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Zoo keeper steps in as orphaned sloth's dad this Father's Day

Flash was born at the end of March Credit: Drusilla's Park

It will be a busy Father’s Day for Head Keeper, Mark Kenward at Drusillas Park in East Sussex, who has become surrogate dad to an orphaned baby sloth and is currently hand-rearing it.

Flash needs feeding every four hours Credit: Drusilla's Park

The sloth, named Flash by followers on Facebook, was born on Saturday 26 March and is the first baby of its kind to arrive at the Park in the zoo’s 91 year history.

Flash requires feeding every three hours, even during the night, which is likely to continue for at least 8 months.

Flash's mother sadly died shortly after he was born Credit: Drusilla's Park

Mark says: “There are some advantages to looking after a sloth baby; nature only calls every 5 to 7 days so there are rarely any accidents to clear up.

Sloths are also slow moving and sleepy creatures too, so I can easily keep a track on Flash.”