Beautiful Animals

A family of polar bears are airlifted away from a town in Canada. The bears found themselves flying high as part of a plan to remove them from a town in Manitoba. Polar bears around the town of Churchill usually reside on Hudson Bay for seven months of the year and come inland when the ice melts between July and November. But wildlife officials decided to take drastic action when this particular family entered the prohibited 'control zone' in the town and started stealing food from bins...

...The bears were tranquilised and transported by helicopter to Eskimo Point where they will now live until they can be taken back home to Hudson Bay when the ice returns. Californian wildlife photographer, Suzi Eszterhas, captured the entire mission on camera. She said: "They had become problem bears so they had to be moved. This type of relocation doesn't happen very often but it's absolutely necessary when they start getting too close to people."
Picture: SUZI ESZTERHAS / ARDEA / CATERS NEWS

This cheeky pelican was rewarded with a fish after chasing a tourist boat for miles. The patient bird tailed the boat while flying near a seal colony off the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. After a few miles the captain decided to treat the pelican to a snack. British photographer Andrew Forsyth said: "The tourist boats take visitors out to see the seal colonies around Walvis Bay. On the return journey this pelican chased the boat for a last few scraps thrown by the boat owner, much like a seagull following a fishing trawler, except with a bill perfect for catching fast food."
Picture: Andrew Forsyth/solent

Kermode bear eating some fresh salmon sashimi.

Great article in this month's National Geographic Magazine on Spirit Bears:
Spirit Bear
In a moss-draped rain forest in British Columbia, towering red cedars live a thousand years, and black bears are born with white fur.
By Bruce Barcott
Photograph by Paul Nicklen
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/kermode-bear/barcott-text

Beautiful photo, Tsar.

I just don't feel the love in that expression.

the daily B & O

Roberta, that looks like what might be the next Disney villain. Pretty scary!

A 28-day-old golden tiger cub is bottle-fed by a chimpanzee at Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo in Samut Prakan province on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand.
Picture: EPA

Happy, happy bear!!!

AP Photo 14 hours ago Gogo the polar bear grabs an ice cube containing apples presented to him on a day that's known as the hottest day in the year in Japan at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka, western Japan, on Saturday July 23, 2011.

One of the two newly-born Sri Lankan leopard cubs is carried by her mother Sariska during presentation to the public for the first time at Bratislava's Zoo.
Picture: AFP/GETTY

I think the leopard looks exactly the way a leopard should look.

BTW, the url says leopard, but I think it's a jaguar. What do I know?

I love how it looks.

dj, What is that bunny standing on? Other bunnies? Wet otter.

Irish, Plotzing from the chimp/tiger pic. Glad the polar bear is getting some fruit. Hello from the world to the new leopards.

hey, if you're gonna sit under the water spout you're gonna get stepped on i guess

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2011/0707/Polar-bear-origins-Polar-bears-have-Irish-ancestry-suggests-DNA-study

dj, mebbe the bigger wabbits do that so that the shorter wabbits can weach.

tsar, I read about polar bear origins. Irish. Who knew? Until recently, nobody. Thanks for the info.

Gemsbok:

dj is mia. No problemo:





Hey, O's. That's not a log.

more B & O's, equal more gooder

Double the fun with the B & O's. Thank you both.

So, is that an alligator or crocodile. I'm ignernt.

This deer picked a fight with a plastic model he thought was a real-life rival. The animal attacked after spotting the fake deer apparently trespassing on its territory in Western Montana. The buck fronted up the plastic model, and when the model showed no sign of stepping down, the deer launched at it with his impressive antlers, ramming it until it lay in bits, its head knocked off.
Picture: Donald M. Jones / Minden Pictures/solent

One of four North African Cheetah cubs steps outside for the first time since being born at Chester Zoo on June 21st.
Picture: PA