SIMBA, the Disney favourite, is king of the wild.

Although nervous to begin with, everyone’s favourite lion cub in Disney’s The Lion King grows up to be wise, powerful and fearless.

A similar experience has now happened to Simba the cat, who ended up spending two months at Colchester Zoo after he went missing from his comfortable home four miles away,

His doting owners, Raymond and Carly Bateman, of Mersea Road, said their five-year-old cat had always been shy and nervous.

Mr Bateman said: “We had him since he was born. He had never disappeared before as when people used to come round he used to run away and hide under the bed.

“He’s a friendly cat, he likes being stroked and he’s really good, it’s just when strangers come round he was always nervous.”

But about nine months ago the couple started building a large extension to the side of their house, with a garage and a bedroom.

Simba, who gets uncomfortable when his environment changes, did not take well to the constant noise and busyness.

Mr Bateman added: “About two months into the work he went missing.

“ Usually he comes back every night but when he didn’t come back one day we knew something wasn’t right.

“We made leaflets and went to the vets to check if he had been picked up from his microchip but there was nothing.”

The couple were close to giving up until they received a call from Colchester Zoo on Thursday morning.

Staff at the zoo said they had found Simba near the Birds of Prey display area, running around after the birds.

With a microchip scanner on site, they managed to track Mr and Mrs Bateman and tell them they would bring Simba home.

Mr Bateman said it was amazing how their cat had survived so long in the zoo.

He said: “I was just surprised he didn’t get eaten.

“They ended up calling him the zoo cat.

“We think he must have been there for about two months, he came home in such a good condition.

“He had some scratches on his nose so he must have been fighting around the other animals.”

On the morning they received the phone call Mrs Bateman and their son, Ethan, who is two, were planning on going to the zoo as they have a gold pass.

Mr Bateman had even been at the zoo the week before with his son, but as the attraction is so big they had no chance of spotting their beloved pet.

On returning home, Simba is now a changed cat.

Mr Bateman said: “It’s mad how much he has changed, he is still nervous around some places but he is back to sleeping on my leg and he recognises home again.

“He is so much more confident. We just don’t understand how he got there. Of all the places in the world, he ends up at the zoo.”