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By Jamie Mcginnes


These cuddly Artic wolf cubs have got every right to look a bit frosty - after they emerged into the world in the middle of a 27C heatwave.

The three-week-old youngsters - which were born ready to comfortably live in minus 60C temperatures in Alaska - got their first sight of life outside their den at Austria's Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna.

Mum Inja kept a watchful eye over the cute creatures as they played together in front of delighted visitors.

Cuddly: These Arctic wolf cubs emerged into the world in the middle of a 27C heatwave

Zoo director Dagmar Schratter said: 'Inja is very careful and protective and only lets them out when it is quiet at the zoo and she believes it is safe enough to do so.

'You will need a lot of patience if you want to see them.'
A keeper added: 'It is a bit warm for them but they're a very adaptable breed.'


Furry friends: The three-week-old cubs played in front of visitors to Austria's Schönbrunn Zoo


Time to relax: The heat - or perhaps the excitement of having an audience - seems to have tired out this Arctic wolf cub


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By Daily Mail Reporter


Something certainly seems to have tickled this baby bird.

Amateur photographer Conrad Tan caught the tiny Saw-whet owl having a real hoot while he was snapping a family of owls in the hills of a small town called Moraga, 30 miles east of San Francisco.

The 42-year-old, an electrical engineer from San Jose, California, heard reports that two baby owls had been sighted in a nesting box in the town so headed out with his camera to see if he could catch the perfect shot.

Mr Tan waited for hours for the birds to finally come out of their hiding place and eventually they began to hop around on the branches when, all of a sudden, one of them appeared to crease up with laughter.

Very amused: This baby Saw-whet owl appears to be laughing for the camera near Moraga, San Francisco

He said: 'I'd like to imagine he was thinking of a funny joke another owl had told
him.

'I had tried twice to get this photograph. The first time I found them the owls were still in the box but the second time I visited they had fledged and were hopping about from branch to branch.

'The second time I went, I hoped they would be on a branch that was open and in good light and I was not disappointed.

'One baby was very high in the trees and did not give me a very good photo but the second one did everything a wildlife photographer could ask for; he posed, flapped around a bit, gave me several good looks, all in great light and uncluttered backgrounds.'

Shots such as these are rare as the owls, which are nocturnal, are notoriously hard to spot.

Mr Tan, who first got into photography to make his own desktop backgrounds of landscapes and later fell into wildlife photography, described his excitement at capturing the creatures for the first time in the wild.

He said: 'I had tried to take some photos of a couple of Saw-whet owls two years ago but they didn't come out.

Bird of prey: Amateur photographer Conrad Tan had travelled to the spot specially to photograph the owls

'When I first saw them in the box, I was so overjoyed I could barely contain myself. I could feel my heart racing.

'The birds don't come out in the wide open often, preferring heavy branches and leaves to hide especially as they get older. When they are young their fear of humans isn't quite developed yet.

'They seemed to be calling for the parents to come feed them and being little raptors they need a steady supply of mice.

'I've seen many photos of saw-whet owls up in the trees, or being handled by rehabilitation personnel. Only very few are out in the open and it's even less common to catch them being as animated as this little fellow.'

Saw-whet owls are strictly nocturnal with activity beginning at late dusk. During the day, they depend on their plumage for camouflage when roosting in foliage, usually close to the ground.

When threatened, a saw-whet owl will elongate its body in order to appear like a tree branch or bump, often bringing one wing around to the front of the body.

The Saw-whet owl makes a repeated tooting whistle sound. Some say they sound like a saw being sharpened on a whetstone, hence their unusual namesake.


Peek-a-boo! The tiny bird nervously peeps out of his birdbox home in the hills


Rarely seen in the day: The birds are usually nocturnal so it was a rare treat to see them in the light



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By Daily Mail Reporter


Meet the purrfect posers and clever canines who are proving popular thanks to their impressive ruff guide to yoga.

The contorted creatures, pictured mastering a series of tricky yoga positions, are the latest stars of a calendar created by photographer Dan Borris and his former yoga teacher wife Alejandra.

The pair, from San Antonio, Texas, put their talents to good use by rounding up rescue puppies and kittens from an animal shelter to help them create the unique tongue-in-cheek artwork.


Clever canines: The contorted creatures, pictured mastering a series of tricky yoga positions, are the latest stars of a calendar created by photographer Dan Borris and his former yoga teacher wife Alejandra


Tongue-in-cheek: The pair rounded up rescue puppies and cats from animal shelters to create the work

Clever: The duo spend hours in the studio with the adorable animals before using computer
software trickery to make the difficult poses as close as possible to the real thing

The duo spend hours in the studio with the adorable animals before using computer software trickery to make the difficult poses as close as possible to the real thing.

Dan said the work required a great deal of patience but said they were inspired by their love of animals and enjoyed creating pictures that made people smile.

He said: 'The inspiration came from a writer friend of mine who practiced yoga.
'She was telling me about her dog licking her face in a headstand pose and generally getting overly involved in her yoga.


Hard work: Dan said the work required a great deal of patience but said they were inspired by their love of animals


Inspired: Dan said he was prompted to start the project because a writer friend of his practiced yoga

Cute: Dan said he was first taken with the idea of seeing dogs doing yoga, but then the theme of cats, kittens and puppies followed

'At that moment I thought wouldn't it be great to see dogs doing yoga. I love dogs and was doing a lot of yoga as well.

'Really I just was taken with the idea of seeing dogs do yoga, then the idea of cats, kittens and puppies followed.

'It was something so different from my usual work and I love making these photos in order to make people smile and learn about yoga at the same time.

'We find the animals every where. In the beginning we worked with our friend's dogs but of course the original pioneer Yoga Dog and Yoga Cat were our dog, Mela and our cat, Snoosh.


Friends: In the studio the couple work together to recreate a variety of tricky yoga positions such as the lotus and, of course, the downward dog


Team work: Dan photographs the animals while Alejandra helps the animals feel safe and comfortable

And stretch: The lifelike pictures have in fact been tinkered with by keen photographer Dan

'We were then very lucky and happy to work with to work with animals for adoption at The Animal Defence League shelter in the city.'

In the studio the couple work together to recreate a variety of tricky yoga positions such as the lotus and, of course, the downward dog.

Dan photographs the dogs and cats while Alejandra uses her experience and TTouch training - a specialist therapy for animals - to help the animals feel safe and comfortable.

He said: 'We have poses in mind and try to get them as close as possible but the final images are the product of many hours of very detailed work using photoshop.


Trance: These cute cats look like they are in a meditative state as they 'have their picture taken'


Showing off: These cheeky cats look like they were having the time of their lives as they posed

Chillax time: These pair stare into the lens as the stretch out

'There are of course some challenges working with animals but the most important aspect is to keep the dogs and cats feeling safe and actually having fun.

'Patience is a key ingredient, since dogs and cats have their own ideas. All the poses are genuine yoga poses or variations which are used in yoga classes.

'This is the part that's really important because the humour comes from them seriously doing real yoga.

'Ale loves this step of the work because she's the one who gets to be with the animals and play with them while I take the photographs.

'I also love to work with the dogs and cats but then of course I really enjoy the creative process when we start to create an image.

'Sometimes we don't really know where it's going to go but then the magic takes over and little by little it unfolds with a dog or cat doing yoga.'


Important: Patience is a key ingredient since dogs and cats have their own ideas, the couple said



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By Daily Mail Reporter


Mistake: The cheetah is pictured here seemingly going after the ostrich

The cheetah may be the fastest animal on the planet, but as these pictures show that doesn't always guarantee a successful hunt.

The first mistake he made was to go after an ostrich, something he would not normally hunt - and then when the ostrich decided to turn on him it was the cheetah who had to leg it.

This bizarre set of pictures were taken by wildlife photographer Guy Dekelver at the Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania, but even then all is not as it seems.

Change: But the ostrich decides to turn on the cheetah, which is then seen taking off

Guy, 36 said: 'We found this cheetah hanging out in the crater, until all of the sudden it started showing interest in what seemed to be an ostrich.

'After some sneaking up, the cheetah started gathering speed and a cheetah in full flight is one of the most amazing things you can witness.

'The ostrich also took off, at which point in time, I also saw a hare trying to get out of the way. It then dawned on me that the hare was what the cheetah was really after.

'Unfortunately no one could tell the ostrich which obviously thought it was being chased. As it tired it decided to turn at which point the cheetah must have feared for its own safety and fled.

Bizarre: The pictures were taken by wildlife photographer Guy Dekelver at the Ngorogoro Crater in Tanzania

'As for the hare, it lived to run another day, leaving behind a frustrated cheetah gasping for breath and a confused ostrich.'

Guy, originally from Belgium, added: 'The irony is because I never caught the hare on camera people still ask me whether I've stitched two separate images of a cheetah and an ostrich running together.'

Guy, a natural resources management and renewable energy specialist has lived in east Africa for the last 12 years.

He said: 'I studied environmental engineering and international land and water management, resulting in jobs that brought me close to the animals I knew since I was a small child from books and documentaries.

'Capturing those animals and their surroundings in pictures, in an attempt to share these wonders of nature with others, has always been one of my passions.'


Hanging out: Guy said he found the cheetah relaxing in the crater before it bounded off to hunt



source:dailymail

By Chris Parsons


This adorable young fox cub made a not exactly clean escape from a spot of bother when he was hauled from a building site caked in mud.

The four-month-old fox was rescued from an urban building site near London's Canary Wharf, where he had been spotted in a deep muddy hole with no chance of escape.

And far from being just having muddy paws or a light covering of dust, the hapless animal was completely covered in a thick layer of dried sludge from head to foot.


Stuck in the mud: The fox was in dire need of cleaning up when he was rescued from an urban building site in Canary Wharf


On the mend: The fox cub gets a good dunking in some warm water to wash off his thick extra coat of mud after being saved

All better: But after some food, water, and a long scrub down, 'Muddsey' was back to his normal self at the wildlife hospital

However, after being saved by builders on the London site and taken to South Essex Wildlife Hospital in Essex, the fox received some food, water, and most importantly, a nice long scrub down.

He has not been christened 'Muddsey' by staff at the wildlife hospital as a tribute to the condition in which he was found.

Su Schwar who runs the hospital said 'it would certainly have had a pretty awful death if it hadn't been found, it was very cold and in shock but is fine now.

'We felt very sorry for him because he was completely caked and was absolutely petrified.

'The builders were doing some ground work on the site and there were a couple of holes left open.

'None of us knew how long he had been down that hole - it could have been all weekend.'



source:dailymail

By Suzannah Hills


A rare turtle takes its first glimpse of the world as it emerges from its egg - becoming one of the first to hatch from a special breeding scheme in a bid to reverse diminishing numbers.

The yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle, named after the spots on the side of its head, is one of the largest river turtles in South America with its shell growing up to 20 inches long.

But the species, once on the endangered list, is still classed as vulnerable and is constantly under threat from over-hunting, the pet trade and climate change.

Cracking open: The moment a yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle hatches from its egg after being bred in a special programme at New York's Rosamond Gifford Zoo

Although aggressive conservation and breeding programs in their native countries is helping to sustain the Amazon river turtle population.

This baby turtle is one of 27 hatched in a special breeding program at New York’s Rosamond Gifford Zoo, one of just 70 zoos worldwide to house them, and is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

Zoo director Ted Fox said: 'Captive breeding programs are often critical in the survival of a species and this is a success story we are proud to tell.

'The hatching of these once-endangered species is exciting for us, as many of them will enhance the exhibits at other accredited zoos.'


Newborn: The baby yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle, named after the spots on the side of its head, currently fits in the palm of the hand but its shell will grow up to 20 inches long when it reaches adulthood

Vulnerable: The baby turtles are on exhibit at the New York's Rosamond Gifford Zoo but will eventually be transferred to zoos and aquariums around America

Weighing up to 25 pounds, they are found mainly in the Amazon and Orinoco River drainages, large rivers, backwaters, lagoons and flooded forests, living for around 20 years.

Spending most of their time in the water, they only come out to bask in the sun on logs or stones.

Females typically lay two clutches of eggs each year, each with up to 50 eggs in it.

They make their nests in sandy areas on the banks of rivers where the eggs will hatch two to three months after they are laid.

In the wild, eggs are laid at the peak of the dry season so the nest will not be washed away.

The baby turtles are on exhibit at the zoo for a limited time and will eventually be transferred to zoos and aquariums around the U.S.


source:dailymail

By Nick Enoch


An ice lolly, a dip in the pool, deckchairs... when it comes to cooling off in the hot weather, these animals don't play by the rules.

As Britain enjoys a heatwave, with the mercury hitting 27c (81f) today, these are just some of the cunning ways our furry friends cope.

And as the pictures below show, it's not just those here who are feeling the heat - from China to Germany, Indonesia to the U.S., animals are scoffing at what they've seen in nature documentaries and trying something a little bit different...


Let sleeping dogs lie: Tara the dog opts for a sunbed and parasol to see her through the blistering heat in Britain


Bird bath with a difference: Jacquille the parrot cools down in a tea cup in Costa Rica


One cool dude: Dudu the walrus beats the summer heat in China, at Qingdao Polar Ocean World; right, a squirrel gets stuck into a frozen treat in Swindon, Wiltshire


I've got this licked: An African lion in Brookfield zoo, Chicago refreshes himself with a block of ice


Sealion solution: Keepers at Qingdao Polar Ocean World have come up with innovative ways to keep their animals cool; right, Eski the snowy owl could do with a towel in the New Forest, Hampshire


Flew what a scorcher! A tufted titmouse suns itself in Massachusetts


Spread the whirred: This chilled dog has found himself a new fan; right, Chino the donkey enjoys an ice-cream at Pennywell farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon


Furry nice! A squirrel takes a dip in a swimming pool in San Antonio, Texas


Does it come in banana flavour? A baboon enjoys an ice lolly at Hangzhou wild animal centre, China; right, a meerkat at Marwell Wildlife Conservation Park, Hants


To hell with the diet... An orangutan at Ragunan zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia


Just follow my lead: Harland the poodle on Southsea beach in Hampshire; right, a fur seal relaxes in Stromness, South Georgia Island


White tiger cubs Jeevan and Ashoka cool off in a paddling pool at a safari park in Germany


Trunks, glasses and parasol...this pooch looks good - and he knows it


I'll be finished in about nine hours... A young gorilla chews on a block of ice containing fruit at Los Angeles Zoo


Do I look like I want to share? A ring-tailed lemur at Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Herts


Pass the oinkment, dear: Some pigs tan themselves in Cambridgeshire


It's bacon hot! A piglet falls asleep in a doll's house deckchair at Pennywell farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon



source:dailymail

By Tammy Hughes


Who's this? The confused baby penguin stares as Joel

Penguins have long since been a subject of fascination for people.

Our obsession has spanned generations and resulting in films, TV shows, books and even a chocolate bar.

But this new footage seems to prove that the little creatures are just as interested in us as we are in them.

This incredible clip shows how a baby penguin came to be mesmerised by a lone traveller on a trip to Antarctica.

Scroll down for video...

Playtime: The penguin seems to think that Joel is a rock and tries to jump over him

Travel blogger Joel Oleson lies down to take a break when a this curious little creature comes to say hello.

At first the cheeky chappy seems to take Joel for an over-sized rock and attempts to jump over him.

After getting stuck he appears to takes a keener interest by pecking Joel's face affectionately and making a happy chirping sound.


Watch it! The penguin hits Joel in the face with a wing

Remarkable footage: The penguin gets over-excited as he realises that he's made a discovery

At one point Joel's new friend gets a little bit over excited and starts snapping at his nose and hat playfully.

The adorable video has had more than 140,000 views on YouTube since it was posted in February this year.

One user commented: 'That was lovely!! Thank You for posting.'


Rescue me! Joel looks helplessly at the camera as the bird starts to peck his face


Take it easy! The penguin nips Joel excitedly willing him to play




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