White Elephants

Rare albino elephants.

Lion Cub Hates Swimming

Who said I wanted to learn how to swim? Lion cub is less than impressed after dip in zoo moat

They say elephants never forget, but what about grumpy lion cubs forced to do something they hate?

Let's hope this little growler doesn't remember who decided to find out if he could swim, when he grows up.

The eight-week-old cub didn't appear to be very pleased at all when he was 'thrown in the deep end' in a zoo's moat in Washington DC.

 Wet and wild: The unhappy lion cub tries out swimming in the moat at the zoo in Washington DC

 Making a splash: The lion cub does not appear to be best pleased to find itself having to doggy paddle

Water torture: The reluctant lion cub finally gets into the swim of things at the zoo

And he he didn't seem to appreciate being grabbed by scruff of his neck either as he was gently put in the water. Cats, big or small hate the wet stuff, but the staff at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo were just being very considerate. Zookeeper Craig Saffoe and his colleague Leigh Pitsko had to conduct swimming tests on four of the lion cubs to make sure they could negotiate the moat. The cats went in one at a time and the reaction was exactly the same - that's grrrruesome! The moat surrounds the lion habitat, so once that hurdle is cleared, the cubs will then be allowed to join their mother and go on display to the public later this year.

 Water torture: The lion cub touches water for the first time and isn't impressed at all

 In you go:  Zookeeper Craig Saffoe pus the cub into the moat at the Smithsonian Institute's zoo and then he's joined by  colleague Leigh Pitsko as they take the  bedraggled cub off to be dried after its unexpected swim 

The city made of eggs

If you find it difficult to make a house of cards that you would make a whole damn city made with eggs? This talented young man below, using little more than five thousand eggs – chicken and quail – made a huge sculpture of about 6m x 4m. The city of eggs, which depicts a Chinese empire, was established in an exhibition at the Groninger Museum, Netherlands.

Mini Terrariums

Mini terrariums become more and more popular nowadays. They can be tabletop, hanging, or wall-mounted. Thats why there is a new manufacturer of these cute mini-gardens that we can put inside of our homes.

 

Happy-Potamus

It's a happy-potamus! Grinning hippo poses for zoo-goers' snaps

When Jay Parker told his wife Lauren to say cheese, it seems someone else was listening, too. Otis the hippo pressed his face against the glass of his tank and produced what appears to be a beaming smile. And when the couple exchanged positions, the three-ton beast duly obliged with another grin. The Parkers, from Little Rock, Arkansas, took their extraordinary photographs during a holiday visit to San Diego Zoo in California. 

Happy hippo: Jay Parker, 35, gets a rare moment with Otis at San Diego Zoo

After posting them on the internet, they soon found them popping up on blogs and chatrooms from Chattanooga to China. Mr Parker, 5, said Otis and a female named Funani had only recently been put in a tank together and had been battling for supremacy  -  hence the scars on his back. 'When I look at his face I think he looks pretty tired by it all, or maybe he's having a happy dream  -  either way it's a great picture.'

 

'We took the picture on holiday at San Diego Zoo, my wife is a big fan of animals so we always try and visit somewhere when we are away,' said Mr Parker. 'Actually the week we were there the zoo had just put two hippos together for the first time in the tank. 'Hippos are not usually that friendly and the two they had in the tank - the male Otis and the female Funani - had been having a bit of a fight with each other that day.

Second snap: Otis was so comfortable with the camera he also posed for a picture with Lauren Parker

'The hippo behind me is Otis, when we saw his face we just thought we had to get a picture.' Mr Parker said he wasn't sure if Otis was happy or not after his day's ordeal with Funani - in fact he might even have been asleep. He said: 'If you look at Otis's back you can see the scaring from his fight with Funani, this is normal hippo behaviour but I don't think he won.' To add another dimension to the memorable snap, the picture has become something of an internet hit and pops up on blogs and chatrooms from USA to China. Mr Parker, 35, from Little Rock, Arkansas, even gets fan mail from people telling him he is their computer screensaver or Facebook profile picture. He said: 'It's kind of strange to think there are people out there with a picture of me on their computer, but I guess I'm just the hippo man as far they're concerned.