I love you my deer - zoo plans nuptials with a twist

A three-year, inter-species love story at a zoo in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, will culminate in a Valentine's Day wedding ceremony tomorrow.

Changmao, a love-struck ram, has been mating with a chital deer named Chunzi since late 2010. They have become inseparable and Yunnan Zoo decided to hold a wedding so they can spend the rest of their days together.

The affair began in the winter of 2009 when Changmao, a lamb just one month old, moved into the deer zone and started following Chunzi, then a yearling, around.

'Normally a chital deer would only mate while in season,' zoo spokeswoman Li Li said. 'But this couple mate nearly every day. We believe they don't do that for breeding but for love.'

There are six chital deer in the zone, three of each sex, and one ram and one ewe. Chunzi keeps her distance from the male deer but stays close to Changmao.

They became celebrities after their love story circulated online and seem unperturbed by tourists who crowd in front of their enclosure to photograph the odd couple.

The zoo will print 500 commemorative tickets and 200 limited-edition T-shirts for their wedding. Changmao and Chunzi will stand on the two sides of a wall and walk through a gate together, which the zoo says will represent the breaking of the traditional view of love. They will share a carrot at the end.