A family of baboons enjoy the sun in their enclosure at Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg
A lion named Carbora nuzzles a lioness in their enclosure at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg
Beanie, the 15-month-old Koala, is ready to be released after spending time at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast in Queensland
A new born bright orange Golden Lion Tamarin clings onto his mother’s back at the Santa Barbara Zoo in California
The orangutans at Melbourne Zoo have become one big happy family once again after the newest arrival was introduced to her big brother….
…Dewi, which means Goddess or Princess in Indonesian, was born at the end of last year. She was allowed out into the enclosure at the zoo at the end of January, but until now hadn’t been introduced to the wider family, including big brother Menyaru. Keeper Fleur Butcher comments: "Menyaru was a little bit more respectful than I thought he would be, it went well."
A baby pygmy hippopotamus named Oliver stands next to his mother Krakunia after being born at Parken Zoo in Eskilstuna, Sweden
Young panda Su Lin rolls in fake snow at San Diego Zoo. Su Lin enjoyed the annual spraying of fake snow over the panda habitat in the normally-warm Californian zoo, designed to give the pandas a taste of life in the wild back home in China…
…"Su Lin went wild for the snow," said Karl Drilling, a zoo visitor from Temecula, California. "She was sliding down slopes in her habitat, moving the snow around. She even stuck her tongue out like a toddler and looked like she was smiling at one point."
A meerkat puts his arm around another in Makgadikadi Salt Pan, Botswana. The adult meerkat seems to be saying "One day, son, all this will be yours" as the pair scann the horizon together. The moment was caught on camera by caterer Thomas Retterath, 48, from, Nurburg, Germany.
Chris Humfrey, who runs the Wild Action Zoo in Macedon, Victoria, Australia, poses with some of the hand-reared Grey-headed Fying Foxes he has been caring for since the bats were born six months ago, after they were rejected by their mothers due to the recent wet weather.
A giraffe looks through the front door of Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya
A crocodile misses out on lunch by the skin of its teeth – as a wildebeest makes a miraculous jump high in the air to safety. The wildebeest had been crossing a river when it was ambushed by the croc. Photographer Andrey Gudkov captured the escape at the Masai Mara national park, Kenya.
Small fish dart to safety from the path of invading sharks. British photographer Alec Connah took the photo as the blacktip reef sharks swam through shallow water, scattering the fish on Lankayan Island, Borneo.
A baby loggerhead turtle is released into the ocean for the first time. The rescued youngster seemed to be loving his first taste of freedom after being rescued and nurtured by an expert team. Photographer Eric Cheng had been following the turtle rescue programme in Palm Beach, Florida and was able to capture the youngster’s expression as it swam into the ocean.
Here’s a snake with a frog in its throat. Tour guide and photographer Luis Fernando Espin captured the scene in the Amazon Basin, Ecuador. "I was ready to have lunch and was walking from my cabin to the dining room when I saw the snake (Chironius exoeletus). I realised the snake was grabbing the tree frog (Osteocephallus taurinus) by its leg. I ran to grab my camera and took several pictures of it in action…
"…Forty-five minutes later the snake was still eating the frog and I took the last pictures before it swallowed it."
According to a Chinese family their 35 chickens have been living up a tree for the past five years. Zhang Fugen, from Lanxi in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, says five years ago his chickens abandoned the hen house he had built. "I don’t know which one took the lead but from then on the chickens moved to the tree in the yard. Even on snowy days they prefer to live in the tree." According to Zhang the chickens fly up into the tree branches before dark and only come down early the next day. "Some lazy ones even stay on the tree for a whole day." He added: "The little chicks fly onto the tree as soon as they are three months old after learning from their parents". And it would seem that there is a strict pecking order, with each chicken not deviating from its own particular spot. Zhang says it’s not an easy job to catch the chickens from the tree, and each time he has to net them using a fishing net. Luckily for Zheng, however, the chickens do still lay their eggs on the ground.
Ticket the rat cuddles up to Tuxedo the cat, while Scarface the Pit Bull Terrier looks on. The harmonious inter-species dog-cat-rat family are owned by "Animal Whisperer" Brian Cottrill in Venice, California.
A dog jumps over crocuses flowering on a meadow near the river Rhine in Duesseldorf, western Germany
A dog dressed in costume parades through the French Quarter during the Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans
Fuzzi the dog is dressed and ready to take part in the Fat Thursday carnival in Cologne, Germany
Sanya, the Bactrian camel, leads her calf on a walk at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Minn. The male camel, who doesn’t yet have a name, was born on March 7 and weighed 125 lbs at birth
Sumatran tigers, Jalur and Cinta, at the Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh, Wollongong, New South Wales. Originally from New Zealand’s Auckland Zoo, where they were the first tigers born at the zoo, the two tigers were shipped to Australia as part of an international breeding program
Staff at St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire have made a little jumper to keep a spineless hedgehog warm. The animal was found by a member of the public in a garden in Bedford and has been named Spudlina by staff as her skin resembles that of a potato. The two year old is undergoing various tests to determine the cause of the loss of her spines and she is currently enjoying regular skin massages with a Vitamin E moisturiser
A flamingo loses its balance and falls over whilst trying to stand on one leg in its pool at Moscow Zoo
The polar bear cub Vicks walks under mother Olinka’s legs in their enclosure at the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam
A baby squirrel curls up into a tiny ball while his mother gently carries him in her mouth to the safety of the nest
A lion cub is carried in its mother’s mouth in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. The mother had taken her newborn out into the open for the first time and had just finished feeding it when the excited youngster misbehaved. The clumsy cub went back for more food and roughly nuzzled at the mother’s belly, causing her to let out a painful roar. The angry lioness then picked the baby lion up by the scruff of the neck with her mouth and carried the hapless youngster back to their den.
Two-month-old North China leopard cub Nekama sits in a basket in her enclosure at the Berlin zoo
Two new-born female white tiger cubs are pictured at Night Safari Zoo in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand
A six-day-old female chimpanzee clings to her mother Uschi at Bratislava Zoo in Slovakia
A newborn White-Handed Gibbon baby is seen with its mother Bettina, aged 32, as she climbs a rope at the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv. The birth of the gibbon surprised staff, as it had been 11 years since Bettina last gave birth.
Baby lemurs hang onto their mother at a zoo in Hefei, China
Three baby meerkats are cared for by their family at Bristol Zoo Gardens
An eight-day old capybara relaxes with its mother in their enclosure at the San Diego Zoo, California
Seven ginger guinea pigs rescued by The Blue Cross animal charity have been named after famous red-heads – Fergie, Annie, Bonnie (Langford), Nicola (Roberts), Geri (Halliwell), Bianca (Butcher) and Lily (Cole). The copper-coloured critters were brought into The Blue Cross adoption centre in Burford, Oxfordshire, earlier this month along with five other guinea pigs because their owner could no longer care for them. Anyone wanting to give a guinea pig or any other animal a home should contact the centre on 01993 822483. For more information about The Blue Cross or to make a donation,
This abandoned black-and-white cat with a heart-shaped marking on her side has been named Bette Davis by staff at Gables Farm Dogs’ and Cats’ Home in Plymouth, Devon. She was handed in to the animal shelter last month looking dishevelled and emaciated after she was dumped by her previous owners. Bette is one of dozens of cats currently waiting to be re-homed at the centre.
A cat balances on a row of high fence posts. Owner Loree McComb photographed her cat Johnny balancing on the fence in her back garden in New Mexico, United States
Eleven month old red Tibetan mastiff dog, Hong Dong (Big Splash) was handed over to its new owner, a man, who was only idendified surnamed as Yang, at a private breeding base in Qingdao city, in east China’s Shandong province, on 12 March 2011. Media sources reported that the dog was bought by a multi-millionaire coal baron for 10 million yuan (£945,000) making it probably the most expensive dog in the world
Say hello to the seal who has learned to wave his flipper in exchange for fish. Charlie the seal has discovered that by pleasing the crowd with his friendly antics he can get more fish…
…Visitors to Howth near Dublin, Ireland flock to the local harbour to purchase fish by the bucket load to chuck to the hungry seals. Photographer Paul Hughes says: "He seems to have learned how to do this by imitating people."
A great grey owl stares into the camera at the Bird Zoo in Marlow, eastern Germany
A white-tailed eagle grabs a pollock from a lake in Lauvsnes in Norway. The impressive picture was snapped by Harry Eggens from Groningen, in the Netherlands. He said: "It is a great sight to see when these majestic birds grab the fish right out of the water. Most of the time they catch them on their first attempt. This eagle flew straight back to the nest when he’d caught the pollock and he probably had to give the lot of it to the wife and kids."
Thousands of starlings flock into the shape of a bird. Amateur photographer Kenneth Barker snapped the picture at Gretna Green in Scotland.
A robin feeds from a man’s hand in Donabate, Dublin, Ireland
Volunteer wildlife rescue worker Erin Healey releases a rehabilitated grey-headed flying fox at a bat colony in western Sydney, Australia. A food shortage caused by rains,
