Animal Photos Of The Week

This was a good week for animal rescues.

A team of firefighters and police in Southern California rescued a kitten from a pipe on Thanksgiving day.

In a surprising twist, dogs that were once predators of penguins in Australia are now being used to protect them. The sniffer dogs are also being used to search for other predators that might hurt New South Wales' dwindling penguin population.

Elsewhere in Australia, it was revealed that a group of nearly 100 baby fruit bats, or flying foxes, have been rescued and are being bottle fed after a cyclone killed their families earlier this year.

Sadly, a recent heat wave in Zimbabwe has left 77 elephants dead. Scarce funding and a lack of natural water sources means that important elephant watering holes have broken down and left many of the creatures without enough water to met their daily needs.

In more lighthearted animal news, check out these pictures of cute turkeys who survived Thanksgiving.

View our collection below of the best animal photos from the past week and vote on your favorites: