Leopard Cub
by Doug Holstein Photography
Baby Elephant
by Isak Pretorius Photography
https://www.facebook.com/isakpretorius.wildlifephotography
Sam the cat may have nine lives, but he only has one expression – worried – thanks to his unusual markings. He has two black marks on his forehead resembling eyebrows. His owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, rescued Sam the stray cat from New York and set-up an online profile dedicated to him and his ‘eyebrows’. Sam now has more than 24,000 followers on picture sharing site Instagram with his anxious expression earning him world wide fame…
Picture: Rex Features
The two-year-old cat even looks surprised by his new celebrity status. Since Sam’s owner started the Instagram account, the photos have spread to Twitter, Facebook and now his own dedicated website. Sam’s biography says the cat enjoys ‘eating, worrying, surprises and pooping’. Sam’s owner has said a portion of the proceeds from his website will go to Empty Cages Collective, a non-profit, no-kill, volunteer based animal shelter in Brooklyn, NY.
Picture: Rex Features
Three polar bear cubs demand their mum’s attention as they clamber over her at Wapusk National Park near Manitoba, Canada
Picture: Matthias Breiter/Minden Pictures/Solent News & Photo Agency
A snail and a caterpillar come to face to face in Batam, Indonesia
Picture: Shikhei Goh / Barcroft Medi
Pianist Richard Clayderman plays the piano to Galapagos tortoise Dirk (aged 70) and his girlfriend Polly to encourage the endangered animals at London Zoo to mate, with a week to go until Valentine’s Day. The slow-moving giants didn’t appear particularly impressed, and only seemed to perk up when zookeepers brought them some carrots.
Picture: Lewis Whyld/PA
Humans, cats, dogs and horses are all descended from a furry, insect-eating creature which lived just 200,000 years after the extinction of dinosaurs, scientists claim. A picture of the small animal was put together by scientists after examining thousands of fossilised and living mammals to construct an evolutionary family tree. They concluded that the mother of all mammals, except marsupials and the handful which lay eggs, was a scampering four-legged creature weighing less than half a pound (200g).
Picture: AFP PHOTO / CARL BUELL/AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Photographer Scott Cromwell captured the split-second moment when a chameleon went in for the kill. Mr Cromwell watched as Geoffrey, a 17-month-old chameleon released his tongue towards a mantis and hit it straight on.
Picture: Scott Cromwell/Solent News & Photo Agency
An alligator’s fiery red eyes glow in the dark as it waits for its next meal. The picture was taken in the shallow river of the Myakka River State Park in Florida, where American photographer Larry Lynch spotted the reptile lurking in the shallow river waiting to pounce.
Picture: LARRY LYNCH / CATERS NEWS
Leopard in tree, Timbavati, South Africa
by Christof Schoeman Wildlife Photography
https://www.facebook.com/christofschoemanwildlifephotography
An African elephant damages a fence in the Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa. Young bull elephants often like to wreak havoc for no particular reason other than showing off their strength. However, there’s the possibility that the low-frequency noises caused by the pump servicing a nearby waterhole irritated him. But it really looked like he was just having fun; like a mischievous teenager, he retreated hastily as soon as the rangers’ car appeared honking its horn.
Picture: Ignacio Yufera/FLPA / Rex Features
This fox got more than she bargained for when she gave an icy pond a lick – and got her tongue stuck. Nineteen-year-old photographer Bertie Gregory caught the moment on camera in a park near his home in Bristol. He says: “As this individual was a cub from the previous spring she was fairly inexperienced and so frozen water proved to be a new and exciting challenge. When she finally plucked up the courage to walk out into the middle of the pond, her curious nature eventually led her to lick the ice. As we’ve all found out, a warm tongue gets stuck on cold ice and hers was no exception. There was a comical pause as she stood there motionless, tongue stuck, not knowing what to do. Eventually the vixen panicked and pulled her head violently upwards, leaving some of the skin on her tongue stuck to the ice.”
Picture: Bertie Gregory/NPL / Rex Features
University student Morgan Trimble photographed this shoebill trying to eat her camera tripod after being released into the wild. The bird had been hand-reared in captivity by conservationists since it was rescued from poachers as a chick.
Picture: MorganTrimble/BNPS
Angry Lion Dad, Masai Mara, Kenya
by Guy Dekelver Photography
Lions in Serengeti – Mara Ecosystem … power for the lions in Africa.
by Uwe Skrzypczak Photography
Lion Cub, Serengeti, Tanzania
by Uwe Skrzypczak Photography
Two polar bear cubs play tug of war with bowhead whale skin at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in North Slope, Alaska. US photographer Steve Kazlowskihas compiled his favourite photos in a new book, Bear Country: North America’s Grizzly, Black and Polar Bears.
Picture: Steven Kazlowski / Barcroft Media
Nicola Manomaiudom looks at a dodo at Extinction: Not the End of the World, a new exhibition at the Natural History Museum starting on Feb 8
Picture: Paul Grover
Young Lion Male at Balule Game Reserve, Hoedspruit, South Africa
by Greg McCall-Peat Photography
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Greg-McCall-Peat-Photography/169427349765665
Lion Cub, Balule Game Reserve, Hoedspruit, South Africa
by Greg McCall-Peat Photography
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Greg-McCall-Peat-Photography/169427349765665
The moon rises over the Mount Redentore and a lenticular cloud is still coloured.
by Alessio Andreani Photography
http://www.alessioandreani.com/
http://www.facebook.com/AlessioAndreaniPhotography
Rhino Sunrise, Kruger National Park, South Africa
by Mario Moreno Photography
http://www.mariomorenophotography.com/
http://www.facebook.com/mariomorenophotography
Aurora Borealis, Northern Yukon Territory, Canada
by Marc Adamus Photography
http://www.marcadamus.com/
It’s bad enough when a hungry heron plucks you from the dirt to be its lunch, but does it have to dunk you in water too? Photographer Steve Shinn captured this fascinating glimpse into the eating habits of a great blue heron in Long Beach, California. He says: “I have observed great blue herons dining on all sorts of prey including fish, rodents and even other birds, but they seem to like dunking gophers before swallowing them. I will venture that it makes them easier to swallow as the idea of trying to gulp a dry mass of hair seems rather difficult.”
Picture: Steve Shinn/Rex Features
Northern Lights, over floating ice in Iceland
Picture: Chakarin Wattanamongkol / Barcroft Media
Quick-thinking holidaymaker Isabelle Filippini grabbed her camera as she saw this massive waterspout drop down from the sky into the sea, north of Bastia, in Corsica
Picture: Isabelle Filippini/Solent News & Photo Agency
Raccoon Cubs in Oak Tree
by Ronday Photography
http://www.rondayphotography.com/
A golden tabby tiger called Sapphire relaxes at Olmense Zoo in Antwerp, Belgium. Just 30 of these rare animals are known to exist on the planet, with none left in the wild.
Picture: Alida Jorissen / Barcroft Media
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks at a space monkey during a ceremony to mark Iran’s National Day of Space Technology in Tehran. Ahmadinejad unveiled two small satellites, Nahid and Zohreh (Venus in Farsi and Arabic) and said that he is ready to be the first man in space sent by Iranian scientists under an ambitious national programme which aims to put a human being into orbit before 2020.
Picture: IRANIAN PRESIDENCY WEBSITE/ARMAN TEIMUR/AFP
Ant Tower !!
In a bid to make an escape from a bird cage, a 10-strong army of ants link up to turn themselves into a ladder. The insects climbed on top of each other to form a tower to try and reach the top of the cage. Indonesian photographer Fahmi Bhs captured the antics near his home in Jakarta.
Picture: Fahmi Bhs/HotSpot Media
Nestled in the “Valley of the Ten Peaks” in the Canadian Rockies is a sparkling, crystal clear, glacially-fed lake of surpassing beauty. Lake Moraine languidly awaits anyone willing to journey to an elevation of approximately 6,183 feet above sea level to enjoy its pristine blue waters and the magnificent views of Alberta, Canada’s Banff National Park
by Stephen Oachs Nature Photography
http://www.ApertureAcademy.com/
http://www.facebook.com/stephen.oachs
A lioness stands on her hind legs and stares at a boy. Photographer Armando Sierra captured the scene as his son Matthew walked up to the animal’s enclosure at Zoo Miami in Florida, USA.
Picture: Armando Sierra/Solent News & Photo Agency
Rising Malachite Kingfisher
by Mark Dumbleton Photography
http://markdumbleton.com/
Hyena Siblings Playing at Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa.
by Brendan Cremer Photography
http://www.brendoncremerphotography.com/
http://www.facebook.com/brendon.cremer.photography
A photographer was revealed as the winner of a prestigious national award for this picture of a lightning strike – on the day of his funeral. Danny Beath, 52, had entered the Travel Photo of the Year competition seven times before but never won first prize despite making the finals. His image of a storm over poppy fields in Blackstone Nature Reserve in the Severn Valley netted him first prize in this year’s contest. But before the organisers could tell the snapper about his win, Danny tragically collapsed outside his house in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and died of a heart attack on January 14.
Picture: Danny Beath / Newsteam
Acres of colour sprawl across the landscape, highlighting the patchwork rainbow of Holland’s tulip fields. Photographer Normann Szklop hired a small plane for the shoot.
Picture: Normann Szkop / Rex Features
Cormorant Pose
Mabkwe hide in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve is one of the best places for avian photography in South Africa.
by Rudi van den Heever
http://www.LinRuPhotography.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/LinRu-Photography/108401912575806
Elephants on fire
by Isak Pretorius Photography
http://www.isakpretorius.com/
http://www.facebook.com/isakpretorius.wildlifephotography
Big Cat Nap
A couple of female lions escaping the mid afternoon heat and bugs snoozing away on a giant eucalyptus branch at Lake Nakuru in Kenya, Africa.
by Stephen Oachs Nature Photography
http://www.ApertureAcademy.com/
After a gazelle kill, mama cheetah cleans up her young offspring. Ndutu, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa.
by Betty Sederquist Photography
Two 6 month old male cheetahs just hanging out with mom nearby.
Phinda Private Reserve, South Africa
by Michael Moss Photography
Zoo owner Emmanuel Tangco reads a book to his snakes in his bedroom in Malabon, Metro Manila. The Lunar New Year begins on February 10 this year and marks the start of the Year of the Snake.
Picture: REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Straw-coloured bats flock together during migration in Kasanka national park, Zambia. About 8 million bats make it one of Africa’s largest and most spectacular mammal migrations. The six-foot-wingspan bats live on just one-acre of forest on this huge continent. When they come home to roost after their daily hunt for fruit, each tree holds up to 10 tonnes of bats, making this the highest density mass of warm-blooded mammals on the planet
Photograph: Will Burrard-Lucas/Barcroft Media
https://www.facebook.com/BLphotography
A lizard rides on the back of a snail in Batam, Indonesia
Photograph: Shikhei Goh/Barcroft Media
A dog rests on a buffalo near Ravi river in Lahore
Photograph: Mohsin Raza/Reuters
A curious lion cub peering through an opening in a termite mound.in the Okavango Delta., Botswana
by Grant Atkkinson/Atkinson Photography and Safaris
https://www.facebook.com/atkinsonphotographyandsafaris
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) anti-poaching squad search for poachers and displaced elephants in the Kora national park. Wildlife protection groups have expressed concern that elephant poaching in Africa is now at its highest for 20 years with an estimated 25,000 elephants killed in 2011. Kenya’s worst incident of ivory poaching in recent history took place on 5 January when an entire family of 11 elephants were killed by poachers in Tsavo national park, which is home to some 13,000 elephants. Increasing prosperity in China, and a large influx of Chinese workers and investors throughout Africa, has sent demand for African ivory soaring
Photograph: Ivan Lieman/AFP/Getty Images
An aerial view of Kora national park in Kenya, where surveillance drones are being deployed as part of efforts to protect elephants from poachers
Photograph: Ivan Lieman/AFP/Getty Images
A National Geographic Society picture shows a Mekong giant catfish in the Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia. Pangasianodon gigas or pla buek (huge fish) in Thai, can grow up to three metres long and weigh up to 300kg. It migrates hundreds of miles to spawn near Chiang Khong, northern Thailand, on the way passing through Xayaburi province, in northern Laos. The decision to build Xayaburi hydroelectric dam on the Mekong River is bad news for the giant catfish. In the Mekong, its numbers have declined by 90% over the past 50 years, mainly due to overfishing
Photograph: Zeb Hogan/NGS/EPA
One of three African pygmy hedgehogs after being rescued from a courier package delivery in Lodz, Poland. Reports said four hedgehogs were purchased at an auction and posted in a box. The DHL hub collectively opened the box after an employee pointed to bad smell. One hedgehog had died in the box
Photograph: Grzegorz Michalowski/EPA
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at the Virunga national park in Tongo forest, Democratic Republic of Congo. Fighting between government troops and M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has disrupted a promising plan for chimpanzee tourism in Virunga national park, also home to mountain gorillas
Photograph: Alamy
A grey wolf (Canis lupus) pack, known as Druid pack, makes its way along a ridge in the Lamar valley of Yellowstone national park in Wyoming, US
Photograph: Daniel J Cox/Getty Images
A great one-horned rhinoceros, or Indian rhino, comes out of a mud bath in Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, about 31 miles (50km) from Guwahati, India. The Indian rhino is primarily found in Assam state of India and in Terai in Nepal
Photograph: STR/EPA
