Animals In News

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