Two adorable baby Egyptian Fruit Bats were discovered by keepers at Cotswold Wildlife Park in Burford after sadly being abandoned by their mothers.

Later named Bruce and Wayne, the bats were found roosting by themselves in the Bat House, without any food and the guidance and warmth of their mothers, with slim chances of survival.

Deputy section head of primates, Natalie Horner, took the babies home and became surrogate mother to the bats - a job she described as 'heart-melting'.

At four to six weeks old, the bats weighed just 40 grams and were unable to maintain their own body temperature so had to be kept in an incubator for two weeks and monitored closely.

Hand-rearing these tiny winged-mammals was no easy feat for Natalie as she had to invest a lot of time and effort in the newborns to ensure they survived and could be reintroduced to the colony.

Ms Horner said: “I had to feed the babies every three hours in the early days. They were given milk as well as mashed fruit. The first feed of the day was at six o’clock in the morning and the last feed was at midnight.

“I'll never forget wrapping the babies in their blankets for feed times. Wrapping them up gave them comfort as their mother would wrap her wings around them to keep them safe. As soon as they finished their feed, sometimes during, they would fall asleep wrapped in their blankets. It really melted my heart.”

It's the first time this species has been hand-reared at the park.

As part of her parental duties, Ms Horner provided round-the-clock care and even gave them flying lessons in her spare bedroom to make sure their wings developed properly.

After four months of devoted care, Bruce and Wayne developed into healthy youngsters and have now rejoined the bat colony at the park.