Now that's puppy love! Three lion cubs and one tiger cub are growing healthy and strong today, thanks to a loving stray pooch who stepped in after the babies' moms rejected them. The first-time mothers, who live at the Hefei Zoo in China's eastern Anhui province, reportedly didn't know how to breastfeed, causing them to step away from their mommy duties after their babies were born in late June.
According to the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph, the babies were initially reluctant to nurse from the mutt (who'd just finished weaning pups herself), but eventually embraced their new mom. Zoo staff reportedly put dog urine on the fur of the rejected cubs to make the surrogate think she was nursing her own pups, too. She is expected to nurse them for about one month, or until she's no longer able to produce milk.
More surrogacy stories on PEOPLE Pets:
Pup Steps in as Mom to Abandoned Baby Pandas
Just Say Awww: Australian Shepherd Becomes Surrogate Mom to Orphaned Kittens
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