Animals In News

Bristol Zoo's twin Asiatic lion cubs are six months old and growing up quickly. The cubs were born on Christmas Eve to first time mum, Shiva, and dad Kamal. Their birth is a conservation breeding success for these critically endangered animals A lion cub plays with its mother's tail at the Hagenbeck zoo in the northern German city of Hamburg One-year-old African white lion cub Almaz rests inside its enclosure at the Royev Ruchey zoo in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk An Indochinese tiger cub sits next to its mother, Mi, in their enclosure at Hanoi Zoo. Mi gave birth to four cubs on April 2, 2011, becoming the first tiger at Hanoi zoo to breed in captivity Sumatran tiger Kirana looks after her three-day-old cub at Chester Zoo An old tigress (L) is confronted by a younger stronger tiger over a sambar deer kill in Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan, India Two tiger cubs that have been nursed from birth by a surrogate dog mother are growing up fast. The two cubs, which are almost three months old, are currently being weaned onto solid food... The pair were abandoned at birth by their mother after being born at Hefei Zoo in eastern China's Anhui Province These are two of the seven dingo puppies born at Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney. The six girls and one boy born at a NSW wildlife park are almost ready to meet the public after learning the ropes from dad Ernie and mum Tia A border collie catches a frisbee during the Skyhoundz Disc Dog European Championship competition in Budapest, Hungary At 85kg, black labrador Sampson is so overweight he cannot be safely exercised. His bulging blood-shot eyes are caused by fatty tissue around his head and high blood pressure. The dog, 42kg above his normal weight, is so fat and unfit that Animal Aid staff fear it will take him until Christmas to shed half his massive frame. Sampson has to be transported to a Melbourne shelter in the Animal Aid van for his weekly weigh-in because he can't comfortably fit on the back seat of a family sedan. "He's the size of a small heifer," Animal Aid veterinarian Amber Lavery said. Ros Boisseau leads Mog the cat through a swimming session at Hawksland hydrotherapy pool, near Wadebridge, Cornwall. A cat that was left with both front legs completely paralysed following a horrific car accident is learning to walk again - by taking swimming lessons. Mog sustained horrific injuries and spent six weeks on a drip after a car smashed into him in a hit-and-run incident in February. A local vet suggested that hydrotherapy classes - usually for water-loving dogs - could help relieve his pain and Mrs Ashworth decided to take him for a session. Mog initially "looked horrified" when he clapped eyes on the canine hydrotherapy pool - but took to it like a duck to water and began swimming lengths. A bear cub hides behind farmer Tian Shougui's legs in Yukong village, Yibin city, Sichuan province, China. The farmer has been taking care of twin black bears at his house since he found them on his farm in April. One is male, the other is female. The twins have fully recovered with the loving care from their adoptive "mother" Tian. "I just want to raise them up to some 10 to 15 kg and then I will let them go free," said Tian. Frodo the female koala joey after she was released back into the wild near Brisbane, Australia. Frodo was nursed back into health after suffering a fractured skull and internal injuries from 15 shotgun pellets found lodged in her body in November 2010 Luna the Grey-headed Flying Fox keeps warm during the cold winter weather at Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria, Australia Photographer Tom Whetten spends hours setting up his camera and lights to capture bats hunting. But he says it would take much longer if he didnt spend time meticulously watching the movement of his subjects and understanding how they think Nelly the elephant kicks a football during an event to predict the result of the Women's World Cup football match between Germany and Canada, at the safari park in Hodenhagen, Lower-Saxony. The 'elephant oracle' predicted a German victory by 1-0 An elephant distributes a pamphlet to a Thai woman during a promotional event for the general election in Auytthaya province in Auytthaya province, 70 km (44 miles) north of Bangkok June 21, 2011. Thais will go to the polls on July 3 for a general election A six-month-old black rhino calf stands with its mother in its enclosure at Lympne Wild Animal Park in Hythe, Kent Funani, a 26-year-old hippo, and her calf, six-month-old Adhama, swim and wrestle with each other San Diego Zoo, America. Keepers are preparing to weigh the calf for the first time next week. Adhama, whose name means "honour" or "glory" in Swahili, is the fourth calf for Funani. Vimoto the gorilla climbs a tree in his enclosure at the zoo in Wuppertal, Germany A giraffe calf, born on June 19, rests inside its enclosure at the zoo in Muenster, Germany Pigs run round the track during a race at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, California A tiny reed warbler feeds an enormous cuckoo chick, thinking it is one of its own babies. The family was captured on camera by wildlife photographer David Tipling near Thetford, Norfolk. He said: "Cuckoos have the ability to lay eggs that closely resemble the coloration of other birds. Once this young cuckoo hatched he would have pushed the other eggs out of the nest and started demanding food. These reed warblers appeared to think the chick was their own - it was just their instinct to look feed it. The cuckoo was three times the size of them but they didn't seem to notice." These amorous wood pigeons get lovey dovey as one gives the other a peck on the beak. The love birds have an involved mating ritual, and the male even slaps the female about the head and body with his wings. Wildlife photographer Colin Varndell snapped the pair at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetland Trust in Gloucestershire. This goose-stepping owl was photographed by Austin Thomas near Formby, Lancashire. "It's quite unusual to see an owl walking along the ground like this," he explained. "He would often fly from his nest and perch on a nearby barn where he would look for insects and worms in the grass to feed to his young" One of 13 newborn ostriches explores its enclosure with its mother at Berlin Zoo Hedgehog rescuer, Steve Whalley, from Fulwood, feeds milk to a baby hedgehog. He is looking for people to sponsor the rescued prickly creatures