Animal Thread

General Discussion
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[SIZE=4]two-year-old elephant shows football skills before Euro 2012[/SIZE]

With Euro 2012 less than a fortnight away, England’s footballers are doing all they can to impress before the big kick-off.
And judging by this hilarious video, it seems a two-year-old elephant called Donna has many of the ball skills that England coach Roy Hodgson is looking for.
The playful Asian elephant, one of the star attractions at Whipsnade Zoo, entertained crowds of tourists as she pelted a giant football about her paddock.

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Close control: Donna traps the football under a foot as she gets ready to start playing games

Heads up: Donna shows she is as impressive at heading as she is with the ball at her feet

Having a ball: Donna pulls off a skilful dragback during her amusing display at Whipsnade Zoo

Look what I can do: Donna backheels the ball, watched by her keeper Elizabeth Becker

Off the hoof: Donna breaks into a trot in the elephant paddock with the ball at her feet

Keep the ball: Donna uses her trunk to ensure she maintains control of her football

High five: Donna celebrates with keeper Darren Fellowes after another impressive routine

And relax… Donna takes a well-earned rest, but makes sure she gets to keep the matchball
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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2151358/Euro-2012-Hilarious-video-shows-elephant-playing-football.html#ixzz1wOGrRd2m[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]From sunhats to ice-cream, how animals around the world have taken tips from us to cope with the hot weather[/SIZE]

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…

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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

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

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

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
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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2148709/How-animals-world-taken-tip-cope-hot-weather.html#ixzz1wOI22f98[/LEFT]

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Actually used that for a school project not too long ago. :sunglasses:

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BEAR WHY U MAD?

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[media=youtube]gqVxChQxxoQ[/media]

just give him the damn broccoli, lol

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[SIZE=4]What’s making that racket? Woman discovers small bird with TWO heads and THREE beaks making a commotion in her backyard[/SIZE]

For most of us, having a small bird making a racket in the garden is nothing new.
But when April Britt heard a commotion in her backyard, she decided to investigate.
And what she found left her completely taken aback.

Bizarre: April Britt found this baby female Cardinal with two heads and three beaks perched on a branch in her backyard
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2152709/Whats-making-racket-Woman-discovers-small-bird-TWO-heads-THREE-beaks-making-commotion-backyard.html#ixzz1yNZdyLpn[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]I fought the claw, and the claw won: Scientists unravel mystery of shrimp’s super-strong claws to build body armour[/SIZE]

They can smash through mollusc shells and shatter aquarium glass. Yet, like prize conkers, the club-like claws of the mantis shrimp never seem to suffer damage themselves.
Now scientists have learned what makes the combative crustacean’s ‘dactyl’ claws so strong.
The findings, based on a microscopic study of the appendages, could lead to the development of super-tough and lightweight body armour.

They can smash through mollusc shells and shatter aquarium glass. Yet, like prize conkers, the club-like claws of the mantis shrimp never seem to suffer damage themselves. Now scientists think the claws could hold the key to a new generation of body armour
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2156015/I-fought-claw-claw-won-Scientists-unravel-mystery-shrimps-super-strong-claws-build-body-armour.html#ixzz1yNadCK00[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Hitchhiking really sucks! Octopus endures a rollercoaster ride after latching onto a dolphin’s belly[/SIZE]

This energetic dolphin had to carry an unexpected passenger during its leap through the waves when an octopus clung to its stomach.
The dolphin was being observed as part of a foursome near the island of Kalamos, off the west coast of Greece, when researchers noticed the unusual double act flying through the air.
Bizarrely, the cephalopod had managed to attach itself to the bottlenose dolphin’s genital slit.

Clinging on: The octopus is thought to have attached itself after the dolphin tried to prey on it

Uninvited friend: The bottlenose dolphin leaps through the air despite the attentions of the rather clingy octopus

Observers said the dolphin did not appear to be in distress when it crashed back down through the
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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161461/Octopus-endures-rollercoaster-ride-latching-dolphins-belly.html#ixzz1yNbC5IPm[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Adult male ants single out rivals when they are born… and then chemically tag them for extermination by ‘death squads’[/SIZE]

Adult ants are able to identify potential rivals before they emerge from their pupae, a study has revealed.
Constant patrolling of the nest ensures that a male Cardiocondyla obscurior ant is able to bite or chemically tag a rival as soon as he is born.
Chemically tagged ants are then quickly destroyed by workers in ‘death squads’, according to researchers from University of Regensburg and IST Austria.

An adult male Cardiocondyla obscurior ant (left) fights a newborn ‘rival’. Constant patrolling of the nest ensures that the adult is able to bite or chemically tag a rival as soon as he is born

[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2159746/Adult-male-ants-single-rivals-born--chemically-tag-extermination-death-squads.html#ixzz1yNbjcMe5[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Bahamas shark station comes under attack - but the monster isn’t Jaws, it’s a foot-long woodlouse from 8,500ft down[/SIZE]

When ‘teeth marks’ appeared in cables of an underwater camera system in the Bahamas and the camera cut out, the scientists in charge began to look around for a cuplrit.
Edd Brooks of the Bahamas Cape Eleuthera Institute took a closer look at the cables and found that the teeth marks looked like a huge crustacean had gnawed on them.
The truth was even stranger: they were under attack from a foot long undersea woodlouse.
‘There’s nothing else with mandibles that sharp,’ says Brooks. ‘It was a Bathynomus attack.’

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The beast normally lives 8,500ft under water. Called the Bathynomus Giganteus, it is a super-sized cousin of the humble woodlouse

Its legs are arranged in seven pairs, and its front two are able to manipulate and bring food to its four sets of jaws

Edd Brooks of the Bahamas Cape Eleuthera Institute took a closer look at the cables and found that the teeth marks looked like a huge crustacean had gnawed on them

The Bathonymus chewed through the cables of the Medusa undersea camera

The victim cut out after one of the giant undersea beasts chewed through its cables[/details]

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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2156416/Bahamas-shark-station-comes-attack--monster-isnt-Jaws-foot-long-woodlouse-8-500ft-down.html#ixzz1yNdFq6Dz[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Smile and relax! Seal finds a warm spot aboard a dinghy to soak up the sun[/SIZE]

This seal looked the very picture of contentment grinning from ear to ear when it was spotted enjoying a bask in the sun.
The ingenious animal had lifted himself out of the cold water and found a warm spot on an abandoned dinghy close to the shore.
The adorable pictures were captured by amateur photographer Mike Arthur as he enjoyed a stroll along the beach in Wells, Norfolk.

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Sealed with a kip: This sun-loving seal looks the picture of contentment as he enjoys a bask in the sun in Wells, Norfolk

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Life’s a beach: The animal had lifted himself out of the cold water and found a warm spot on an abandoned dinghy close to the shore

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What’s going on:The adorable animal is woken from his slumber aboard the abandoned dinghy

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Curious: The sun-loving animal had gone unnoticed until amateur photographer Mike Arthur spotted him as he enjoyed a stroll along the beach

[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161687/Smile-relax-Seal-finds-warm-spot-aboard-dinghy-soak-sun.html#ixzz1yNhAgSrd[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Pack of eight wolves maul woman keeper to death at Sweden’s most popular zoo[/SIZE]

A female keeper was today mauled to death by a pack of eight wolves at a popular Swedish zoo, police said.
The 30-year-old woman had entered the wolf enclosure at Kolmarden park, in the Ostergotland district, alone at about 11am when the deadly incident happened.
Emergency services could not enter the enclosure while the woman was being mauled for fear of being attacked themselves.

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Attack: The 30-year-old woman had entered the wolf enclosure at Kolmarden park, in the Ostergotland district, alone at about 11am when the deadly incident happened (file picture)

Popular: The wolf enclosure at the park is a popular draw as visitors can enter and pet the animals

Witnesses: It is understood there were no eyewitnesses who saw the attack at the park, outside Norrkoping

Shock: Zoological director Mats Hoggren, left, and MD Mats Olsson, sitting, answer questions following the incident. It is not yet clear what provoked the wolves to attack[/details]

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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2160668/Kolmarden-Wildlife-Park-Wolves-maul-woman-keeper-death-Swedens-popular-zoo.html#ixzz1yNiB5tZm[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Breathtaking underwater photos capture exotic marine life in remote parts of the world[/SIZE]

These are the breathtaking underwater pictures captured by a marine life photographer in the wildest parts of the planet.
David Doubilet’s awe-inspiring images were taken in far-flung parts of the Antarctic and around exotic islands.
The vibrant photographs range from cute Australian sea lions peering inquisitively into the lens to a terrifying Great White Shark opening its jaws in South Africa.

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An Australian sea lion peers playfully into the camera off Hopkins Island South Australia

A great white shark makes a less friendly subject as it tries to bite the camera in Gansbaai, South Africa

penguins survey their surroundings from the top of a ‘bergy bit’, or small ice floe, off Danko Island in the Antarctic Peninsula

Barracudas encircle a daredevil diver as the photographer captures the moment in the clear waters of Papua New Guinea

A Papuan fisherman stands in his wooden outrigger above schools of flashing baitfish in Indonesia

A chromodoris nudibranch raises its mantle to detect its environment in a white studio, while a spine cheeked clownfish nestles in bleached anemone in a more natural setting of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea

All smiles: A parrotfish seems to grin in its sleep near Heron Island, Great barrier Reef

The talented photographer picks out incredible detail in this close-up of a funny-looking shortnose batfish

A southern stingray glides across the waved raked sands of North Sound bay, Grand Cayman island

Light and shade: The beautiful pictures have great impact, even in black and white

A Maori humphead wrasse at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, left, and a male tomato clownfish, right, guarding his clutch of eggs - which hatch in a week

A De Havilland Beaver Biplane delivers scuba divers to Hook and Hardy Reef on the Great Barrier Reef

A red Waco biplane over Key West and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary - the birth place of the Gulf Stream

A weedy sea dragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, patrols a kelp forest at Waterfall Bay, Tasmania, Australia

A baby Nile crocodile hides in a veil of algae in the Ncamasere Channel of the Pan handle region of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, Africa

Nice to sea you: A parrot fish confronts a school of grey grunts in the Galapagos Islands

A stack of mating loggerhead turtles in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Key Largo Florida

Picturesque: Australian sea lions play in a sea grass meadow off Hopkins Island, South Australia
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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2160195/Breathtaking-underwater-photos-capture-exotic-marine-life-remote-parts-world.html#ixzz1yNkN2115[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Boxing bears may be just playing now, but they will grow up to be heavyweights[/SIZE]

This stunning photograph shows a bear cub slapping his sibling on the jaw with his left paw as the pair spar with each other on a river bank.
The adorable image of the two animals play fighting was taken on the shores of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska.
There’s some fancy footwork going on as well as the two one-year-olds scrap.

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A bear cub lands a left paw slap on his sibling’s cheek at the Katmai National Park in Alaska

Mum keeps a watchful eye in the long grass as the two animals have fun by the water’s edge.

the three young cubs and their mother climb back up the banks of the river and get on their way home
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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161181/Bear-knuckle-bruisers-Boxing-grizzlies-just-playing-grow-heavyweights.html#ixzz1yOVLZ0Yh[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Pleased to meet you! Touching picture shows the moment a little girl came face-to-face with an underwater giant[/SIZE]

A surprised little girl received a huge greeting when she pressed her hands and face to the glass of a manatee tank in Orlando, Florida.

Tilting her head up to take in the gentle giant, the toddler was captured by a photographer facing one of the SeaWorld park’s equally curious sea cows which averages 800 to 1,200lb in weight. (363 to 544 kg)

Several times her own size, the water mammal floated before her, a rescued sea cow from the area recovering from outside injuries more often due to boating propellers.

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Reaching their hands and faces forward, both the tiny girl and this manatee expressed curiosity in the other during a friendly visit at an Orlando water park

Herbivores, whose size averages between 800 to 1,200lbs in weight, the mammals related to elephants consume 100 to 150lbs of food a day

All of the manatees at the Orlando water park were rescued from the wild after popular injuries like boat propellers. Once they’ve recovered they will be re-released into the wild
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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2153599/Girl-comes-face-face-manatee-SeaWorld-Orlando.html#ixzz1yOZZumr0[/LEFT]

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**Artist turns his dead pet into flying helicopter after it is killed by a car:wtf: **

Many animal lovers find it hard to part with their pets when they die.
So when cat Orville, named after the famous aviator Orville Wright, was run over by a car, his artist owner decided to turn him into a permanent piece of artwork as the ultimate tribute by transforming him into a flying helicopter.
Dutch artist Bart Jansen first stuffed Orville before teaming up with radio control helicopter flyer Arjen Beltman to build a specially-designed flying mechanism to attach to the cat.

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Flying high: Bart Jensen has dubbed his cat art The Orvillecopter

Bart Jansen, left, made the cat contraption with radio control helicopter flyer Arjen Beltman, pictured right
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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2154283/Cats-away-Artist-turns-dead-pet-flying-helicopter-killed-car.html#ixzz1yOaq305w[/LEFT]
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[LEFT]some people are just fucked up in the head.[/LEFT]

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[SIZE=4]Take that! Loved-up lion gets a slap across the chops after female loses patience with his advances[/SIZE]

He may be one of the world’s most fearsome predators, but this lion clearly still has plenty of work to do when it comes to attracting the opposite sex.
The loved-up lion had taken a fancy to this lioness and spent an entire morning attempting to woo her.
But after making it perfectly clear on numerous occasions that she wasn’t interested, she finally snapped.

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Keen: When this loved-up lion spotted a female, he decided she was the woman for him

The lion spent an entire morning trying to woo the lioness, but his advances were constantly spurned

Eventually, the female became fed up with the lions advances and began to moan and grumble

The lion persisted but eventually the female’s patience ran out and he was given a smack around the face

Despite getting a slap around the face, the lion’s persistence paid off and he eventually got his woman
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[LEFT]Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2159183/Take-Loved-lion-gets-slap-chops-female-loses-patience-advances.html#ixzz1yOcRiRRP[/LEFT]

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Love these articles/photos.