Animals In News

A cheeky young squirrel seems to be making it clear that this bird box is his now. Photographer Christine Haines was confronted by the juvenile grey squirrel in a nesting box in her garden in Spokane in Washington. She says: "My husband had constructed nest boxes in our yard to attract Northern Flicker birds. One day I heard a strange noise coming from one of the boxes. I looked up and saw a young squirrel peering out. I grabbed my camera and was able to capture a few pictures with its mouth open. I believe the young squirrel was calling for its mother."

A red squirrel tucking into a plate of spaghetti bolognaise at a children's summer camp in Istanbul

A pair of frog's legs dangle from the beak of a burrowing owl. This photo was taken in Cape Coral, Florida by photographer Megan Lorenz. She says: "This photo was taken in late March which is a perfect time of year to see the adults preparing their burrows, hunting for food early in the mornings and at dusk. This photo was taken late morning as he made a short flight from the burrow, caught the frog and ate his portion before flying back to the burrow to present his mate with the legs."

A man discovered a pink-coloured stray cat roaming around the community where he lives. Yao Xianhai, from Lanzhou in western China's Gansu Province, said he didn't believe his eyes when he first spotted the pink kitten. "I thought I had a blurred vision, but I then realised it was truly pink." No one has come forward as yet to claim the stray.

A group of amateur photographers couldn't believe their luck when they managed to come face to face with a cheetah whilst on safari in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya 

One of three Amur tiger cubs at the zoo in Zurich, Switzerland, yawns in its enclosure 

Amur tiger Elena carries one of its three cubs at an enclosure at the zoo in Zurich

A lioness drags her playful cub away from danger or mischief by the scruff of its neck. Wildlife photographer Anup Shah captured lion cub playing and annoying their parents in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya...

...This cub is going to have to work hard to clean up its act after getting covered in mud from nose to paw during some mucky fun

Fala, one of the two baby snow leopards, makes its debut at the zoo in Warsaw, Poland. The cats were rejected by their mother after they were born in May and are being fed and cared for by zoo employees

Raquel Borges embraces her paralysed lion Ariel at the living room of veterinarian Pereira's home in Sao Paulo. The three-year-old lion is undergoing a landmark treatment to cure a rare autoimmune disease which paralysed his legs about a year ago. Through an internet campaign launched on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, Borges has raised funds to pay for his $11,000 monthly hospital bills. 

A white Bengal tiger rests on a block of ice at Chengdu Zoo in Chengdu, China

Zenda, a 5-year-old African lion, keeps cool during the hot weather thanks to a large 200-pound block of ice in its enclosure at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Illinois

A zookeeper sprays water on two giant pandas to help them cool off in the panda enclosure at the zoo in Weihai city in east China's Shandong province

Detroit Zoo visitors watch a polar bear play with a frozen treat in the cool environment of the underwater Arctic Ring of Life exhibit in Royal Oak, Michigan

Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine have replaced Gamera the tortoise's leg with a wheel. The 12-year-old African spur-thighed tortoise recently had its left front leg amputated after suffering a severe thermal injury and tissue damage from an unknown source

A 19-inch high black miniature horse is pictured with an elephant in Gainesville, Florida. Debbie and George Garcia-Bengochea from Gainsville, Florida run Gentle Carousel, one of the world's only mini horse therapy organisations. They use their tiny herd of horses to bring joy to the lives of foster children as well as those who are homeless or have suffered abuse...

...Looking just like living My Little Pony toys, Rainbow, 3, Peanut, 2, and their other mini horse friends do their best to provide happiness to children in need. Unlike Guinness Book of Record holding horse, Thumbelina - who at 17-inches suffers from dwarfism - Debbie and George's mini horses are fully grown.

Zoo keeper Jens Triebel holds an albino donkey, born on 18 July at the Bitterfeld zoo in Greppin, Germany

When the Squicciarini family from Lecco, Italy adopted piglet Cesira she was just two months old and the smallest piglet of the litter. The family fell in love with the little piglet and brought her home. But the pet porker has now grown into a 14stone (90kg) hog. She enjoys daily walks, pigs out on around 3kg of fruit and vegetables a day and enjoys treats of biscuits, sweets and ice-cream. Cesira is house trained - she uses a litter tray, has learnt to wake Marina and Ali each morning by pulling at their duvet, and enjoys watching TV with the family in the evening.

This is Pebbles, one of two rare Visayan warty piglets recently born at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. The other piglet is named BamBam. This is the first litter father Fred and mother Wilma (of course) have produced since being at the park.

An eight-month-old female slender loris waits to be given her first health check by the veterinary team at London Zoo

Four endangered Gelada baboons have moved into a revamped Tecton enclosure at Dudley Zoological Gardens (DZG). Three brothers, Fisseh, Femi and Ebanois transferred from Zurich, with the fourth arriving from Berlin - and staff are asking members of the public to name that baboon. Tweet them at @dudleyzoo with your suggestions. 

A one-year-old squirrel monkey named Charles Darwin looks pensive as it rests on its minder's head during the filming of a TV movie in Berlin

A baby rhesus macaque monkey looks out from the arms of its mother in Hong Kong

A mother gorilla holds her baby in the Apenheul zoo in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. A baby shower was organised by the zoo because five gorilla babies were born there in the last year

Malee, a three-month old Asian elephant, plays with her ball after cooling off in her wading pool at the Oklahoma City Zoo

A Victoria crowned pigeon sits next to a white-breasted wood swallow at the Walsrode Bird Park in Walsrode, Germany