Animals In News

A hippopotamus yawns in the afternoon heat at a zoo in Mumbai, India

Two zebras frolic in their enclosure at Frankfurt zoo, Germany

A Chinese villager is raising an abandoned newborn bear like her own child, dressing it in nappies and feeding it milk. The bear was one of two found alone in a den on the mountainside near Xiaotangshi village in Dandong. A concerned local took the tiny cub home with him before informing the local Wild Animal Protection Centre. The director of the centre then took the little bear to the home of volunteer Huang Lijie. Here Huang is caring for little Hu Niu, as he has been called, until he is old enough to fend for himself

Three rare woolly pigs have arrived at a UK zoo as part of a programme to help save the breed from extinction. The cute curly-coated Mangalitza pigs, which look more like sheep, are now a dying breed. They originate from Austria and Hungary but are similar to the native Lincolnshire curly coat breed which died out in Britain 40 years ago. Experts at Tropical Wings zoo in Essex hope they can help the breed of pigs

Charles, the tiny baby squirrel that miraculously survived after being plucked from its nest by a bird, dropped from a great height, then abandoned. Pictured being nursed back to health by Penrith Red Squirrel Group volunteer Sarah McNeil

The red fox pups were discovered with their heads trapped in a grate after their mewing was heard by someone living nearby in Plainfield, Connecticut. Animal Control Officer Karen Stone managed to free them using washing up liquid as a lubricant - all the while with their mother wailing from her nearby den. The pups were placed in a dog crate and taken close to their den where they were released, scurrying back to their home

A pair of young foxes battle for dominance in a field off Turner Street in Auburn, Maine, USA

A zoo in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, is advertising for a 'Miss Right' for Liky the lonely coypu (a South American rodent)

Two baby meerkats cuddle with their mother in their enclosure at Chester Zoo...

This is Lowrie the piglet, who has become an unlikely internet hit after being spared the chop and adopted as a family pet. The piglet was the runt of his Shetland litter and had to be hand-reared indoors by his owner Heather Davidson

Peter Haworth, from Bristol, was with a group of Americans taking pictures of three polar bears at Kaktovik, on Barter Island off Alaska. One of the bears began to run towards the group and they fled to the safety of their truck, leaving three tripods standing on the ice. Mr Haworth continued to take pictures as the bear knocked down two of the tripods before running off with a third

A gannet is the victim of a mid-air mugging by another greedy bird. The pair fought over seaweed, commonly used by the large seabirds to make their nests, in mid-air. Amateur photographer Lee Davis captured the aerial ambush as he was taking pictures of gannets at Bempton Cliffs, near Bridlington, East Yorkshire

This is the moment an osprey swooped down and snatched a trout straight out of the water. Wildlife photographer Mark Hancox waited for seven hours in a cramped hide on the shores of Loch Garten, Scotland, before the bird caught its prey

This mother mallard duck on a private lake in Dorset has her work cut out after hatching an enormous brood of 21 chicks. Experts are amazed at the huge family but warn the chances of them all surviving to adulthood is very remote

Orangutans play in their enclosure at the zoo in Colgne

Orangutans play in their enclosure at the zoo in Cologne

Siam, a 50-year-old orangutan, and is one of the oldest apes held in a zoo anywhere in the world, is seen at the Duisburg Zoo, western Germany. The ape, who also suffers from Parkinson's disease, became a father last January

Audrey Ricci, 66, washes her four-year-old Capuccin monkey Lacey in Winter Park, Florida. Monkey Mum Audrey Ricci provides her "babies" with everything they desire including nappies, pasta dinners, toddlers' toys and even their own TV for watching cartoons

An elephant spouts water over tourists during the Songkran festival to mark the Thai new year along the tourist area of Khao San road in Bangkok

A four-day old elephant calf walks beside his mother, Karishma (C), at Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable, central England. The calf, who is still to be named, was born just after midnight on Monday April 12 and is more than 3ft tall and weighs 124kg. The baby has spent his first few days getting to know the other elephants in the herd