A leopard at Port Lympne has been visited by the animal dentist after fracturing his teeth.

Thirteen year old clouded leopard Aston, who weighs 18 kilos, had to be sedated and transported to the on site vet centre for his treatment after fracturing all four of his canine teeth.

The team at the wildlife park called on the services of veterinary dentist Matthew Oxford from New Forest Veterinary Dental Services to investigate further.

Jane Hopper, head of veterinary services, said: "We had identified that Aston had fractured all four of his canine teeth, and that this was likely causing him discomfort.

"Therefore, we called in Matthew to help. The vet team sedated Aston whilst the veterinary dentist prepared for Aston’s treatment.

"Matthew assessed the teeth and decided that in this case, four root canal treatments would be the best course of action.

"The entire procedure was a complete success.

"Aston is recovering well, but we’ll keep an eye on him over the next few weeks.’"

Clouded leopards have the longest upper canine teeth relative to skull size of any living carnivore.

The canine teeth are roughly the same length as those of a tiger, despite a tiger being 10 times larger in body weight.

Matthew Oxford added: "It is really great to be called in to treat interesting animals such as this.

"Although the procedure we carried out is something we do every day in pets dogs and cats it is nice to be challenged with some different and extreme anatomy!"

Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve is home to three clouded leopards.

The species is listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable, with threats such as deforestation and hunting cited as the main reasons for the decline of this species in the wild.