Animal Photos Of The Week

Some of the best animal pictures this week came from quite a surprising bunch of creatures.

If you haven't met the baby short-tailed fruit bat named Lil' Drac yet, be sure to watch this video. The bat was abandoned by its mother and is now being hand raised by rescuers.

In other cute animal news, check out the video of Teddy the greedy porcupine eating a pumpkin, and the clever Husky puppy that figured out his owner's refrigerator ice dispenser.

Other heartwarming animal videos were a little more extreme. This video of a double-amputee U.S. soldier who skydives with his military working dog is an example of tremendous bravery, even off the battlefield.

If you're welcoming a new pet into your home this holiday season and need a name, the top 25 cat and dog names of 2011 were recently revealed. Kitty topped the list for cats, and Bella got the top spot for puppy names.

Rats may get a bad reputation among most people, but a new study found that rats are a little nicer to each other than previously thought. In experiments with food and other rats locked in cages, researchers found that rats will demonstrate empathy and selflessness, and free other rats and share their food before eating.

Sadly, a 25 year old Australian veterinarian was gored to death by a pygmy elephant in Borneo this week. Jenny O'Grady Donley was reported to have walked within 10 meters (30 feet) of the elephant before it charged her.

Check out the best animal photos that made the news this week and be sure to vote for your favorites!

Comments

[snwlprd]

06:06 PM on 12/12/2011

A message to Casper, the white baby Puma, from Tsunami, Shalako, and Spirit;
Hi lil' bro. Wuz up? Wee zee ur foetoe in dat piktur tingie. U 1 kuet dood, dood. U giv alla us hueg purrr faktor. Hour bigg bro,(the Saki), him sez eee wanna lik dat fase boo-koo & giv U rilly lowd purrrs. Wee kood wrun aroun, an plae chaes, an rassle.
U awta C dis wunnerphul toeee @ owr haus. Dey kawl it dee krizmus trea. Itta blazt kat! Dare wuz dis karaktur kawld a Grinch hangin owt dare. Wee hassa taek dat dood owt. Dat wuz fuuunnnn! Wee werkt dat dood ovur. Him bee steelin nutin roun hear.
Wee tink doz meesez git U on dat tearor watchit lizt, bro. Day bee shaekin & kwaekin awl ovur
shuwd dey spie U. Probbullie doz burdies 2.
Gotta goe knouw. Iz knap tiem. Wee wuv U 2 da mackx bro. Appy huntin. Stae kewl. - - Doz BB's.

[PunKinPai]

12:02 AM on 12/12/2011

My PunKinPai had a checkerboard on the top of her head, but I've never seen one on a kitty's face. What a cute little furball.

[jessywk]

04:19 PM on 12/11/2011

There is likely a misprint on picture number 13. The caption seems to imply African elephants successfully breeding with Asian elephants, which is impossible. Looks like Hank is an Asian elephant to me.

[Cindy M Brito]

01:00 AM on 12/13/2011

Yes you are absolutely right, he is an Asian Elephant. I just watched a program on Animal Planet the other day and the scientists said that Asian and African elephants never meet in the wild and in captivety would never accept each other on no uncertain terms. So this is an error in the caption I am sure. I noticed this right away. African elephants have much much larger ears and very different shaped heads.