BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Baby animal love story

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Wednesday, 28 February 2007, 13:12 GMT

In pictures: Baby animal love story

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A pair of Sumatran tiger cubs and a set of young orang-utans, all abandoned at birth, have become inseparable after sharing a room at an Indonesian zoo.

Tiger cub and orang-utan

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The four have lived side by side for a month without a hitch, although this goes against their natural instincts.

Sri Suwarni gives milk to tiger cub Manis with two baby orang-utans in a nursery room at the Taman Safari zoo

Sri Suwarni gives milk to tiger cub Manis with two baby orang-utans in a nursery room at the Taman Safari zoo

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"This is unusual and would never happen in the wild," zookeeper Sri Suwarni said. "Like human babies, they only want to play."

Tiger cub and orang-utan

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But the friendship is not destined to last as tigers start eating meat when they are three months old and will need to be separated from their new playmates.

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