Chinese web users have flooded a wildlife park with pleas for an amorous male sheep and female deer to be allowed to stay together after their mating habits raised concerns.
Staff at the wildlife park turned to the country's half a billion web users for advice after the deer and the ram - whose Chinese name Changmao means Long Hair - began their unconventional liaison.
Their romance made headlines in China after a local television station in the southwestern province of Yunnan picked up on the story, reporting that attempts to separate the pair had been unsuccessful.
By Thursday, the story of the inseparable pair had inspired more than 1,700 comments on China's weibos - microblogging services similar to Twitter that have taken the country by storm in recent years.
"I cried when I watched the video, this is love... they have overcome the obstacles and are finally together," posted one user under the name Qianjiang.
