PICS AND VIDEO: London Zoo keeper hand-rears adorable baby 'Scissorhands' sloth helped by customised cuddly toy

Seven-week-old Edward has been named after Johnny Depp’s character in Edward Scissorhands due to his claws that will grow up to four inches long and enable him to cling on and climb through the tree-top branches of his Rainforest Life home.

The two-toed sloth needed a helping hand when mum Marilyn stopped producing milk and was unable to care for him.

Keeper Kelly-Anne Kelleher stepped in to start hand-rearing Edward and help him adapt to his habitat at the zoo.

Kelly-Anne has customised a cuddly sloth from the zoo's gift shop with carabiners so that it can be hung from a branch, enabling the baby animal to climb on and strengthen his little limbs, helping to build up the muscles he would normally use holding on to his mum.

The stand-in mum is having to be patient, with Edward displaying the slowness and sleepiness the nocturnal mammals native to South America are notorious for.

But the unusual set-up seems to be working, with the little sloth responding well.

Kelly-Anne said: “We’re bottle-feeding Edward every three hours with goat’s milk, topped up with some vitamins to keep him fit and healthy.

“Just like with human baby formula, we heat it up until it’s at room temperature, and test its warmth on our wrists – it took him a few days to get used to the bottle, but now he’s hungrily suckling as soon as we give it to him.

“If he’s feeling particularly hungry he makes a very funny noise to let us know – a sound somewhere between a squeak and a sneeze, but it’s very loud and he makes his point!”

Everything Edward does, including his once-a-week pooping routine, is being logged to help monitor any weight loss or gain and to be shared with other zoos as part of a breeding programme for his species.

Visit www.zsl.org to find out more.