Animals in unusual places: Owl in Brazil, dogs in Paris, camel on a donkey cart

With Unleashed blogger Lindsay Barnett away on assignment, it seems as if the animal world has gone a little cuckoo waiting for her return. Above we see a tiny owl in front of Greenpeace activists who were arrested Thursday for raising an inflatable model of a wind turbine in front of Congress in Brasilia. It's a crime to give a hoot? Whoooo knew?

Men transport a white camel via a donkey cart Thursday while fleeing from renewed warring between the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) backed government soldiers and the Al Qaeda-linked insurgents al Shabaab in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

Your morning adorable: The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's two cheetah cubs are better than one

Staff at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia have found a creative way to make sure two cheetah cubs born there in December have an upbringing that's as close as possible to what they would have in the wild.

The institute, which is associated with the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is a participant in a conservation breeding program to help the cheetah species survive. Two different cheetah mothers, Amani and Zazi, gave birth to cubs about a week and a half apart.

But there was one problem: Each mother gave birth to only one cub. Cheetah mothers typically have litters of three or four cubs; "singletons" are a rarity. For reasons not entirely clear, mothers are unable to properly care for only one cub. "The theory is that one cub does not stimulate the mother enough to keep producing milk," head cheetah keeper Lacey Braun wrote on the National Zoo's website.

Keepers decided to take Amani's cub, a male, from her in order to hand-raise him. When Zazi's single female cub was born later in the month, an idea was hatched: Why not let Zazi raise the two cubs together as siblings? Zazi took to being the mother of "twins" just fine, and the cubs are energetic and healthy. They had their first trip outside last week, and the institute recently launched a live webcam to allow cheetah fans to watch the cubs' antics online.

See more photos of the cubs after the jump!

Westminster dog show 2011: The contestants prepare

If you're a fan of dog shows, you might know the middle of February not for the holiday it contains, but for the famous show that takes place. We're speaking, of course, of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, which takes place at New York City's Madison Square Garden every year about this time.

This year, six breeds will be competing at Westminster for the very first time: the Boykin spaniel, bluetick coonhound and redbone coonhound, which became eligible for conformation competition at American Kennel Club-sponsored events in late 2009, and the Cane Corso, Icelandic sheepdog and Leonberger, which became AKC-eligible in 2010. The Boykin spaniel joins the Sporting group; both coonhound breeds join the Hound group; the Cane Corso and Leonberger join the Working group; and the Icelandic sheepdog joins the Herding group.

Because the Westminster show is split up into two days, only four of the seven groups (Hound, Toy, Non-sporting and Herding) will compete Monday night; the remaining three groups (Sporting, Working and Terrier) compete Tuesday night, with best in show competition to follow the conclusion of the Terrier group. If you're planning to watch at home, the show airs from 8 to 9 p.m. Monday on the USA Network (live if you're in the Eastern time zone, delayed here on the West Coast) and from 9 to 11 p.m. on CNBC; and on 8 to 11 p.m. Tuesday on USA.

Above, a Maltese named Smartee waits backstage for his chance in the ring. After the jump, more photos from the first day of Westminster 2010!

Your morning adorable: Month-old lion cubs mug for the camera at Russian zoo

Twin lion cubs born last month at the Mishutka Zoo in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, are clearly hogging the zoo's supply of cuteness.

The cubs were born to mother Jessica (an oddly human name for a lion, we think) and father Richard (Richard the Lionheart, get it?).

Lion cubs don't become fully mature until they're about 3 or 4 years old, so these guys still have a lot of time for playing ahead of them. As adults, they may weigh upward of 400 pounds!

Lions start life with spotted coats, but the spots, much like some humans' freckles, fade over time. Some adult lions still have remnants of their former spots on their legs and bellies, though.

See another photo of the cubs after the jump!

Photo surprise: The funniest duck we've seen all day

We've polled hairstylists featherstylists around the world, and they've unanimously decided on the recipient of the Well-Coiffed Duck of the Millennium award. And the winner is...

Caption this: Chilly squirrel monkeys warm up by sitting on a radiator

Huddling around a heat source when it's chilly out: It's not just for humans. These squirrel monkeys in Qingdao, China, are no dummies. When a cold snap hit their hometown of Qingdao, China, earlier this month, they hung out in the warmest spot around: On top of a heating radiator!

If you have a great animal photo of your own, we'd love to see it! Click on the photo gallery below to submit it to The Times' photo-sharing site, Your Scene; post them on our Facebook page; or send them to us via tweet @LATunleashed.

MORE CHILLY ANIMALS GETTING WARM:
• Your morning adorable: Japanese macaque monkeys relax in nature's hot tub
• Photo: Chilly ring-tailed lemurs gather around a heater

-- Lindsay Barnett

Top photo: Wu Hong / European Pressphoto Agency

Your morning adorable: African wild dog puppies get a checkup at Illinois' Brookfield Zoo

The birth of a big litter of African wild dog puppies at Illinois' Brookfield Zoo late last year is great news for their endangered species. The litter, born to 6-year-old mother Kim and 4-year-old father Digger on Thanksgiving, contains a whopping 10 healthy puppies who were examined by a zoo veterinarian on Thursday.

The puppies, much like their domestic cousins, needed to be vaccinated against canine diseases -- the spread of distemper from domestic dogs is one cause for their steep population decline in the wild -- and have microchips implanted for identification purposes.

Brookfield is a participant in the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan program to ensure the survival of African wild dogs. Kim and Digger's puppies are the third and largest African wild dog litter to be born at the zoo so far.

African wild dogs have an "it takes a village" approach to parenting: Not only do Kim and Digger care for the puppies, but Digger's brother Duke also plays a big role in their lives. In wild packs of African wild dogs, all adults pitch in to care for the young, regardless of their biological parentage.

See more photos and video of the puppies after the jump!

Caption this: Dog finds a new use for a snowblower

Anyone could use a snowblower to clear snow from a driveway or a sidewalk. But it takes ingenuity, an adventurous spirit and, above all, a deep commitment to eating to stand on top of a snow drift with one's mouth open in order to catch the snow displaced by said snowblower.

We salute this dog -- a resident of Jamestown, N.D., who was caught on camera by a Jamestown Sun photographer a few years back during a two-day blizzard -- for making the best of things and finding a way to enjoy a wintry day. We can only hope that he got a chance to go sledding to make his snow day complete. On second thought, scratch that -- dogs don't need sleds to slide on snow!

If you've got your own great dog photos to share, don't hold out on us! Click on the photo gallery below to submit them to The Times' photo-sharing site, post them on our Facebook page or send them to us via tweet @LATunleashed.

RELATED SNOW-LOVING DOGS:

• Your morning adorable: Pembroke Welsh corgis frolic in deep snow

• Your morning adorable: Sweater-clad Cairn terriers play in the snow

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: John M. Steiner. Credit: Associated Press

Your morning adorable: Baby potto makes its debut at Cincinnati Zoo

At Ohio's Cincinnati Zoo, a round-eyed baby potto is just about the cutest thing going. The tiny creature made its public debut shortly before Christmas and remains on display along with its family.

The baby, born on Dec. 8, becomes the eighth potto at the Cincinnati Zoo and only the 16th in any American zoo. Its parents are 10-year-old Lucy and 9-year-old Jabari.

Pottos are small, nocturnal primates that are more closely related to lemurs and lorises than to great apes like chimpanzees and orangutans. They're native to parts of Africa, where they live in treetops and eat things like fruits and insects.

See another photo and a video of the Cincinnati Zoo's potto baby after the jump!

Reader photo: Relaxed cats nap in a pile

"Two is company, three is bliss," submitter bsk777 titles this wonderful photo of the happiest cats around. This shot combines some of our favorite things: Friendship between animals and pictures of pets relaxing. It's a little slice of heaven, isn't it?

If you have your own adorable sleepy-animal photos to share, we'd love to see them! Click on the photo gallery below to submit them to The Times' photo-sharing site, post them on our Facebook page or send them to us via tweet @LATunleashed.

MORE ADORABLE PHOTO GALLERIES:

• Reader photos: Two cats are better than one

• Reader photos: 40+ examples of dog-and-cat friendship

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: bsk777 / Your Scene