This Week In Animals: Cheetah Pawprints, Trickster Dogs And Should We Save The Pandas? (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

This has been a particularly busy week in animals here at HuffPost Green. Adorable photos, cute videos, and serious news stories have kept us entertained. We've assembled them all here for you to check out.Vote on your favorite animal story of the week!

Elephant Appreciation

In honor of Elephant Appreciation Day on September 22nd, we featured a slideshow of these gorgeous elephant photos.

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Comments

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

It's time--in reality past the time--for a POPULATION CAP on human beings......COUNTRY by COUNTRY...­...beginni­ng in the Third World and focused on North Africa! The so-called 'horn' of Africa is consistently either in drought, famine, or other upheaval and will NEVER again be able to sustain its current population much less ANY increase!

ONLY when the delusional minds of those HuffPo "contributors" cease DEFENDING the right of the Third World to increase its population can there be ANY reasonable prospect of the natural environment surviving......

In the U.S., the danger is also apparent: Those involved in and responsible for "land development"!

[Count Baccula]

It's got a solid logical foundation, but it is a slippery slope. Sort of a Pandora' box. If this were something that was easy and ethical, it would have already been done.

It's not easy or ethical.

[sizogee]

That just might be the most ridiculous posting I've even seen.

Incidentally, most scientists believe that the human population will top out at somewhere between 9 and 12 billion people. We are already starting to see the population grow less quickly.

[fuelie]

At the rate we are going, humans will become extinct before Pandas or any other creature. We will self-destruct.

The only life forms I'd like to see become extinct on this planet are pests like rats, mosquitos, ants, roaches, termites, flies, gnats, etc., but they are probably an integral part of the overall food chain of life for other creatures. Even ants eat termites. These pests will probably survive the oblivion of Humanity on Spaceship Earth if we humans don't make drastic changes to our behavior.

[Corral]

The arrogance and destruction by the human race is beyond awful. All creatures have as much of a right to be here as we do. We wreak havoc and cause problems for this planet and then casually say particular creatures aren't valuable enough to be here? There is usually big business involved in these sorts of cold, calculating opinions. There is that expression that goes something like, as go the animals, go the human race. If we don't have the decency, the depth, the understanding and appreciation of this planet to help other creatures maintain their rightful place on this planet, then, our self respect won't survive the kinds of decisions that must be made to preserve ourselves.

[Kalarchis]

All creatures have a right to be here? And who gave them that? "Rights" are a human creation. Just an illusion so we can demand to have things we want. The right to this, the right to that. Nature has no rights. Nature is about survival. Who stands up for the rights of animals when a meteor comes down? When a volcano goes up? Having understanding and appreciation of this planet includes understanding that ALL THINGS CHANGE, and that trying to keep things exactly as they are right now is foolish.

I'm all for limiting human impact on the environment, but if an animal can't survive it dies off. That's how nature has always worked. No one complains about the rights of rats, because they're doing just fine with us around. Human beings are part of nature too. Everything we create, all our cities and technology, are part of nature. Yes, many animals die off with us around, but many others thrive. That's just how it is.

[hark]

No, that's not how it is. We have the power to be good stewards of this planet, to respect and protect its natural beauty, majesty and wildlife currently thriving or in danger of passing into extinction because of our heavy footprint. I think most of us regard this as a responsibility.

It is true that evolution, that nature itself, is cruelly indifferent to the survival of individuals and species alike, selecting only those that adapt well and don't fall prey to predators or disease or famine or weather or catastrophe, but that doesn't mean we have to do the same.

Thankfully, many, if not most of us are deeply troubled and saddened by the sight of suffering or dying animals, and our natural instinct is to try to help and save them from these fates when we can. That includes endangered species as well.

That's just how it is.

[xtiangodloki]

If Pandas cannot survive in nature by themselves they would of gone extinct thousands of years ago.

There are plenty of species which should of gone extinct already but we humans had to make great efforts to them around. Panda at least have some entertainment value. The same with Tigers.

We also take great pains to destroy certain species which we consider are too predatory, such as the sneakhead fish although these species can be argued superior in terms of evolution.

[OldSchoolLiberal]

Human preferences shape which animals live and which die.

Many of the people who protest whaling have no problem eating beef. People in the West recoil at dog-eating in the East but is it any nastier than eating a goat or a rabbit?

[Count Baccula]

I really do like Rabbit. Much prefered to dog.

[sparky73]

pandas are stupid

[BannedFromCommenting]

Really? You hung out with them to know their intelligence? Wow, didn't know you spoke Panda...

[chedet]

they are animals obviously they don't have the intelligence humans have but that doesn't make them stupid. What a thing to say!

[sizogee]

I agree, my panda buddy.

[Count Baccula]

Psst....the Panda lobby won't sue. You can call them stupid, it's ok. No one's feelings will be hurt. I swear.

Doesn't make them stupid, but the response "Panda's are stupid" isn't exactly something we should get our blood boiling over.

[jamalc]

I love pandas, but... seriously. They themselves don't even seem bothered enough to reproduce on their own without interventions, so why should we force them to?

[spottery2k]

Pandas are virtually incapable of caring for their own young. How can we save the Pandas from themselves when even mother nature seems to have abandoned them?

[Count Baccula]

Amazing they survived thousands of years without us.