Black leopard leaps on to her carer to curl up on her lap in touching video

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Cub was abandoned because its mother did not have enough milk
She was then taken in by wildlife charity the Cheetah Experience
Incredible video shows the leopard playing with the woman who raised her

Published: 06:43 EST, 6 August 2014 | Updated: 06:53 EST, 6 August 2014

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This is the touching moment orphaned leopard Pardus bounds towards her human companion, attempting to curl up on her lap and clamber all over her.

Despite her huge size, the black leopard can be seen enjoying a playful tumble with volunteer Juhi Agrawal, who has worked with the abandoned animal since she was a cub.

Completely unaware of her enormous frame, the leopard spots her friend and leaps up onto a platform, trying to sit on her lap and scrambling all over her, much as a kitten would.

Woman's amazing experience with a Black leopard

The big cat, whose coat appears to be solid black because her spots are hard to distinguish, was abandoned by her mother when it was just a few hours old.

She was taken to Cheetah Experience, a charity which carries out conservation work in South Africa, where she was raised by volunteer Juhi Agrawal who is pictured in the video.

Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen, founder of the charity, said: ‘She is just jumping and playing like they would in a tree.

‘The human interaction enriches their lives in captivity. We take them out on walks so they are not in the cages all the time. Pardus loves her walks on the plains.

‘When she is a bit older, we will introduce her to our breeding programme which is aimed at preventing the animals from becoming extinct.’

Wham: The black leopard appears to pounce on Juhi Agrawal, the woman who raised it, in the enclosure in a wildlife centre in South Africa. But the animal was just playing

Ms Van Nieuwenhuizen said: ‘When we found her she weighed just 300g, which is quite light for a leopard cub. Normally they weigh 500g when they are born.

‘We suspect her mother abandoned her because she did not have enough milk for her.

‘She was completely helpless so we took her in. She would not have survived otherwise.’

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Volunteers come from all over the world to work at the centre and interact with the animals.

She added that the leopards like Pardus, are reared from birth by humans so they do not pose a threat.

Cuddle: Juhi Agrawal cuddles the leopard she raised at the Cheetah Experience in South Africa

She said: ‘It’s very safe to interact with the leopards. We don’t take any chances with the volunteers.’

Sadly, the animals will not be released back into the wild.

Ms Van Nieuwenhuizen said: ‘Unfortunately, the ones that are born in captivity have to stay in captivity. We do not want to mix the genes of a leopard in captivity with one in the wild.’

The centre is also home to cheetahs, wolves, lions, caracals, servals and meerkats.

Ms Van Nieuwenhuizen set up the charity after spending 22 years working for the Department of Justice and realising that it was not her calling in life.

She resigned and used a loan to buy her first animal – a cheetah. From there, she took on more animals and built up the centre which she hopes will save the animals from extinction.