A toddler has been suckling milk directly from a cow ever since his mother went away to find work when a storm destroyed the family home.
Tha Sophat's grandfather revealed the 18-month-old had been feeding himself this way since July when his parents left Cambodia for Thailand.
After he stopped breast-feeding from his mother, the boy became ill, said the 46-year-old grandfather with whom the youngster is staying.
Tha Sophat suckles milk from a cow in Nokor Pheas village, 195 miles from the Cambodian capital. The 18-month-old toddler began suckling directly from a cow as part of his daily meals since his parents left to work in Thailand
The boy watched a calf nurse from its mother, and began to do the same thing, feeding direcly from the cow each day, his grandfather said
The boy watched a calf nurse from its mother, and began to do the same thing, feeding direcly from the cow each day, Um Oeung added.
When the grandfather pulled him away, the boy cried, so he let him continue, he said.
Neighbours and local officials in the village of Pheas in Siem Reap province, about 195 miles from the capital Phnom Penh, say they are not happy about the nursing.
'They blame me and have told me not to allow him to suckle from the cow anymore. They say the boy will be ashamed when he grows up and that he will be naughty,' he said.
Since Saturday, he has limited the suckling to once a day.
'His health is fine, he is strong and he doesn't have diarrhea,' said Um Oeung.
Neighbours and local officials in the village of Pheas in Siem Reap province, about 195 miles from the capital Phnom Penh, say they are not happy about the nursing. But his grandfather counters: 'His health is fine, he is strong and he doesn't have diarrhea'
