A migrating blue whale surfaces off the coast of Long Beach near an oil rig. The animals, the largest on the planet at up to 100 feet long, have been passing unusually close to shore to feed on tons of krill. From the front page of today's Times.
The Feline Conservation Center in Rosamond just released this photo of Rocco, a male Jaguar cub born June 8 and named after golfer Rocco Mediate. Rocco, the jaguar, will make his public debut at the Fabulous Feline Follies event on Aug. 16, the center's officials said.
World famous polar bear Knut sticks out his tongue as he sits in his enclosure at the zoo in Berlin earlier this month. The bear, born in the zoo on Dec. 5, 2006, caused a global sensation when he survived rejection by his mother. He has attracted more than 2 million visitors and has been made a mascot for environmental care. Knut has also been a source of controversy, as an Associated Press story on the next page shows.
A seal, 3 days old, takes in its surroundings at the zoo in the western German town of Duisburg today. The baby, already weighing about 13 pounds, is named Emmy.
Speaking of cute baby animals at German zoos, check out the white lion cubs that made their debut this week in Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock.
Rare white lion cubs meet the press at Safaripark in Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock in western Germany. Seven white cubs were born at the park to two mothers on June 30. While three of the cubs are being raised by their mother, Kibo, the others were refused by their mother, Mawensi. One of them died overnight Monday; the remaining three will be raised by the park's animal keepers.
This squirrel snapshot, submitted in May by Opto on Your Scene, is labeled "A Holiday -- Just hanging out on Mem Day weekend." We wonder if this squirrel has similar plans for what promises to be a warm Fourth of July. It clearly has an eye for nice patio furniture.
Check out Your Scene to see more squirrels, rabbits, cats, dogs and all sorts of critters. Or send us your own photos.
Based on Lois Duncan's novel, "Hotel for Dogs stars Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle, and is directed by Thor Freudenthal.
The comedy's plot: When their new guardians forbid 16-year-old Andi (played by Roberts) and her younger brother Bruce (played by Austin) to have a pet, Andi has to help find a new home for their dog, Friday. So the kids stumble upon an abandoned hotel and transform it into a haven for Friday and his friends, although some neighbors aren't happy with the situation.
One enterprising butcher in southern Germany has found a unique way to draw attention not only to Euro 2008 but to his shop by installing a display of soccer-playing pigs outside the store.
The life-sized swine are made of plastic, so movement on and off the ball is understandably slow, but the pigs have produced a smile or two from passersby, even from those who do not follow the world's game.
Germany plays Turkey today in the tournament semifinals in Basel, Switzerland. On Thursday, Spain plays Russia in the other semifinal in Vienna.
Surrounded by flood waters near her home in South Shore, Mo., Alexae Dunn pets her dog Lady. Levees held as the Mississippi River crested in some areas and gradually continued to rise in others. The Army Corps of Engineers said water levels were largely stable.
Does this image capture (a) some lazy spooning, (b) a feline massage session, or (c) a sinister strangulation attempt? Try your hand at a caption for the photo. Thanks to Dan for posting this photo of Ozzy and Ziggy at Your Scene.
"We were walking by a parking lot across the street from East L.A. Civic Center when we saw a dog named Canela cooling off with a taste of her owner's ice cream," writes Lorena Villegas, who sends us this photo she took Monday. Have any stunning or unique pet photos? You can send them to unleashed@latimes.com, or better yet, share them at Your Scene. Canela, incidentally, means cinnamon in Spanish, though it looks like this Canela was enjoying plain vanilla.
A report of a group of orcas, or killer whales, just four miles offshore from Dana Point prompted Dave and Gisele Anderson of Capt. Dave's Dolphin Safari to jump in their tour boat Wednesday afternoon and snap this picture of one of the five orcas they spotted breaching. The husband-and-wife tour operators say that it is rare for the creatures to come close to shore in this region and that it was the first time they've spotted one in more than three years.
"It was incredible. They were so animated and gregarious, going from boat to boat," Gisele Anderson said. Most people don't know that so-called killer whales are members of the dolphin family, despite what their name suggests, she explains. "They are called killer whales because they are whale killers, not because they're whales."
Kelly, a silverback gorilla, goes for the carrots today as he and the rest of the gorillas at the Los Angeles Zoo are served a vegetarian (or perhaps herbivore) feast made by top chefs from 10 popular L.A. restaurants. The meal was to promote the zoo's annual Beastly Ball fund-raiser on June 14. Guests who pay the $1,000 ticket price can stroll the grounds after hours to view the animals.
Eight pandas chow down on bamboo at the Beijing Zoo after a long journey from their damaged reserve near the epicenter of last month's earthquake in central China. The pandas will spend the next six months at the zoo for a visit that was planned before the quake.
It's one thing to spend your time commenting on a site that has witty, engaging repartee, like this one. But some other places are inexplicable. Like one that came to my attention today: DailyPuppy.com. It exists to post puppy pictures. Okay, fine, I have nothing negative to say about that, dog Nazis. But do said puppy pictures require 90 comments just today, which all sound like this actual example: "Oh baby you are such a cutie-pie. A zillion biscuits and cuddles poppet and have a wonderful life. xxxxxxxxxxx." GOD. It really challenges your ability to even continue liking puppies.
Here's what we have to say to that, Mr. Nolan: Meet Ooltie, left, whose owner sent his photo to Your Scene at Latimes.com.
A zoo keeper holds a 24-day-old leopard cub at the Nandankanan zoological park on the outskirts of Bhubneshwar, India. The abandoned cub was found by two villagers in the Baghnadi reserve forest of Phulbani when it was about 20 days old.
A newborn dolphin swims with his mother, Finagain, on Thursday at the Dolfinarium in Harderwijk in the Netherlands. The baby dolphin can be seen by the public, who will later name him in a contest, officials said.
Goslings take shelter under their mother's wing at Hawrelak Park in Edmonton, Alberta.
According to Cornell University, the Canada goose is the most familiar and widespread goose in North America. It can be found in all kinds of water all across the continent, from the tundra to the Gulf Coast.
At least 11 subspecies of Canada goose have been recognized, Cornell experts say, although only a couple are distinctive. In general, the geese get smaller as you move northward, and darker as you go westward.
Photo: Jason Franscon / The Canadian Press, Edmonton Sun
Two stork chicks, only a few days old, await feeding at Westkuestenpark Zoo in St. Peter-Ording, Germany, on a recent May day. The two were thrown out of the nest by their mother and are now being brought up by zookeepers.
To find out what the stork delivers to the animal kingdom, the San Diego Zoo can give you the 411 on storks and their own babies.
A black jaguar cub, yet to be named, plays with zoo employee Martin Gallardo at the Huachipa Zoo in Lima, Peru. The cub, born two months ago, is the third black jaguar born in captivity in Peru.
Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia (R-Cathedral City) reacts upon seeing her jumping frog, Sir Hoppington, for the first time.
State lawmakers participated in the annual legislative frog-jumping competition today on the east lawn of the Capitol. The competition among legislators is designed to promote the upcoming frog-jumping competition in Calaveras County this year.
Sean Lenahan, 27, left, and Alexsandra Lukyanets, 22, introduce their Papillion, Sophie, to a kitten they hoped to adopt Sunday at the annual Best Friends Animal Society's Spring Super Adoption Festival at North Hollywood Park. More than 300 animals were matched up with new owners, according to a spokeswoman for Best Friends. Thousands of people showed up to check out the homeless dogs, cats, puppies, kittens and rabbits from more than 60 rescue groups and shelters.
That's no mop. It's a Hungarian puli sheepdog named Fee with her owner, Eva Meyer, during a preview for a pedigree dog show today in Dortmund, Germany.
Silver, a male Masai giraffe at the San Diego Zoo, is taken Monday to a new habitat at the zoo's Elephant Mesa. Silver and five other giraffes were out of public view for several months as their new area was prepared. Their old exhibit will be destroyed to make way for a new 7-acre multi-species habitat, Elephant Odyssey, that will include elephants, jaguars, lions, tree sloths, tapirs, pronghorns, California condors and more.
A hummingbird sips nectar at the Fullerton Arboretum at Cal State Fullerton, where more than 75 exhibitors will offer plants, lectures and tips at the Green Scene Plant and Garden Show this weekend.
Julian Smith, 27, of El Monte relaxes in the sun with his 6-year-old pit bull, Pup, at Santa Monica State Beach, where the high was 61 on Wednesday. A warming trend is expected today.
A dog took to the bow while boaters toured the harbor in Newport Beach Sunday as thousands sought relief from the heat at Southern California beaches. Photo: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
A baby panther makes his debut at the Miskolc Zoo and Cultural Park, northeast of Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday. The yet-to-be named male black cub, pictured here with his keeper, was born on March 14. His mother has a solid black coat, but his father's is spotted.
Four-month-old polar bear cub Flocke (German for snowflake) tests the waters. She was introduced to the public today at a zoo in Nuremberg, southern Germany.
Tony Barboza, a Colorado native who moved to Southern California as a college student, is a reporter for The Times' Orange County edition, where he covers the beaches and the city of Irvine. A lifelong animal lover, he lives with his 2-year-old cats Mario and Vincent.
Carla Hall, a general assignment reporter, has covered animals and their people across the state of California (and occasionally beyond). She chronicled the Oakland Zoo's attempts to hand-raise a baby African elephant and followed the Los Angeles Zoo's L.A.-born gorilla Caesar on his trek to a new home at Zoo Atlanta several years ago. Preferring to get up close and personal with her subjects, she once fed corn cobs to the L.A. Zoo's now-deceased elephant Gita (no connection between her demise and the feeding) and spent hours interviewing pit bulls at the Laurel Canyon Dog Park. Currently animal-less, Carla still insists on plying people with anecdotes about her cat Arnold, who died 10 years ago.
Francisco Vara-Orta has been a staff writer at The Times since 2006, writing about birth control for squirrels in Santa Monica and pigeons in Hollywood, the hidden culture of TV pet adoptions and puppy theft. Although he grew up with pet dogs, he realized the sad realities of neglected animals after spending a summer in high school volunteering at a local shelter. Francisco, an L.A. transplant, graduated from St. Mary's University in his hometown of San Antonio, where his dog Diego now keeps his mother company.
Questions? Comments? E-mail us at unleashed@latimes.com.
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