What a dumbo! Baby elephant cools off in reservoir tank... and has to be rescued by army digger

By LEE MORAN Refreshing: The young elephant had been crossing the army quarters with his herd in west Bengal when he became stuck in a reservoir water tank This young elephant's plan to escape the heat and take a refreshing dip in an Indian army reservoir tank went awry when he was unable to get out. After splashing about for a while he found himself being approached by soldiers on a digger. But luckily for him they were coming to his rescue - and proceeded to smash the tank's wall so he could make an easier exit. He soon became stuck and found himself being approached by Indian army soldiers on a digger He had been crossing the Bengdubi army quarters, 15 miles from the city of Siliguri, West Bengal, with his herd when members of the the 16 Field Ammunition Depot were called into...

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Give us a cuddle: Furry friends enjoy a team hug after hard day's lazing around

By STEPHANIE DARRALL Bear hug: Koalas snuggle up to each other at the Lone Pine Conservation Park in Queensland, Australia. Koalas are endangered due to a decline in their natural habitat Holding tightly on to each other's thick soft fur, these adorable Koala bears look perfectly posed for a family photo. The marsupials were spotted cuddling up together at the Lone Pine Conservation Park in Queensland, Australia. Koalas usually sleep for up to 16 hours a day in trees, and only come down for food, so it was a lucky chance that this heartwarming scene was caught on camera. They live on eucalyptus leaves and have become endangered due to damage to their natural habitat and the decline of food availability - it is thought that there are less than 80,000 left in the wild. Koalas are currently...

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The mini moos: Tiny breed of cows that grow to just two-and-a-half feet tall

By STEPHANIE DARRALL Holy cow: These tiny animals are regarded as sacred cattle in their native Sri Lanka These tiny creatures look like new born calves but they are actually fully grown cows standing just 36 inches tall. Owner Jay Brittain's new additions to her Small Breeds Farm Park near Kington, Herefordshire, are Zebus cows - and are the smallest cows in the world. The breed, which are regarded as sacred cattle in native Sri Lanka, were saved from the brink of extinction five years ago. Fully grown: These minature cows Charlie (left) and Mary. have just arrived in Britain are the smallest cattle in the world Their numbers plummeted after indiscriminate cross-breeding with dairy breeds. Ms Brittain said: 'I first heard about the miniature zebus around 15 to 18 years ago...

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Reunited! Puppy stolen by thieves on a motorbike is handed back to his happy owners

By EMILY ALLEN and CLAIRE ELLICOTT Reunited: Alfie the Charles spaniel is now back home with 16-year-old Ashleigh Parsons and her parents Pauline and Ian After Alfie the puppy was snatched by two thieves on a motorbike, his devastated owners feared they would never see him again. But the 16-week-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel is safely back in his own basket thanks to a kindly couple who saw Ian and Pauline Parsons’ appeal in the media. The £450 pedigree puppy was seized from his playpen outside his owners’ family business in West Bromwich last Thursday. Happy to be home: Alfie bounds around the garden with his family after opportunist thieves stole him Hours later, a man sold the pet to a couple in Coseley, ten miles away, for £150. But when the couple, who wish to remain...

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Meet the family of 24 (That’s 2 adults, 2 children and TWENTY pampered raccoons)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER We are family: Michelle and Sean Rhodes share their Portsmouth home with 20 pampered raccoons. The fury creatures have the run of the house and are regarded in the same way as the couple's two children A family outing usually involves a bit of organisation. But for Michelle and Sean Rhodes, any activity is something of an adventure. With two children and 20 raccoons to consider, life is no simple challenge. But according to the couple, the loveable creatures feel left out unless they are allowed to tag along. Day out: The raccoons apparently feel left out if they are not allowed to tag along on family outings And the Rhodes parents are so besotted with their 'gaze' of raccoons that they regard them like their children - 14-year-olds Jacob and Rosemarie -...

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Swimmer torn to pieces in tiger shark feeding frenzy off Australian 'paradise island'

By Richard Shears Fatal attack: A tiger shark, like the ones which attacked an killed an Australian swimmer off Fantome Island, Queensland A holidaymaker has been torn apart in a feeding frenzy by a shoal of tiger sharks off a 'paradise island' in Australia. The Melbourne man, known to his friends as Rooster, had set out with three others to retrieve a small boat that had broken free of its anchor off Fantome Island, lying 40 miles north east of the Queensland city of Townsville. He failed to return from the evening swim to pick up the boat and his friends found his body the following morning. Allan Jefferson, of Queensland's Emergency Management authority, said: 'Four of them went swimming out to the boat, three of them made it and the fourth one never got there. 'The person has...

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Great White sharks are already here and UK waters are an ideal hunting ground, claims expert

By Stephanie Darrall British waters are an ideal hunting ground for great white sharks, who are already 'occasional vagrant visitors', claims a shark expert. President of the Shark Trust Richard Peirce said that it is only a matter of time until his theory that the predators visit British shores is verified. Mr Peirce believes he almost proved the presence of a great white in the UK with a photograph of a shark caught off the north-east coast of Scotland. He said: 'I sent the photo to some of the world's leading experts but as soon as they heard it was caught off Scotland they started looking at what else it could be.' 'The real surprise is that we don't have an established white shark population, because the conditions here mirror those in parts of South Africa, Australia and northern...

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Emergency haircut for sheepdog Floyd sees him lose TWO STONE of matted hair

By EMILY ALLEN Neglect: Emma Midgley with Floyd, the Old English Sheepdog, when he arrived at an animal charity after suffering severe neglect. He struggled to see, hear and go to the toilet A rescued dog can finally see again after he was so severely neglected he became trapped in a filthy ball of his own matted hair - weighing two stone. Floyd, an Old English Sheepdog, was picked up by an animal charity after he was bundled out of a van and left tied up with a piece of string on the street. His dirty hair was so long and matted that he struggled to see, hear or go to the toilet and his claw-like nails made it painful for him to walk. On the mend: Floyd trimmed of two stone of fur and on the road to recovery. He also had his two inch long nails clipped But he is now recovering...

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The bear who dared: Awesome polar animal descends 300ft cliff in a bid to scavenge eggs from some VERY surprised birds

By JULIAN GAVAGHAN Watch the birdie: A hungry polar bear inching down a 300ft cliff face in a desperate search for food on in Novaya Zemlya, Russia For birds nesting on a precarious cliff, the last visitor they might expect to see would be a hulking polar bear clambering down to join them. Yet this bulky beast somehow managed to descend a craggy precipice in Russia’s remote Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. The young male risked life and limb scavenging for eggs along the 300ft-high rock face thronged with hundreds of squawking Brunnich's Guillemots. What are you doing here?! The bear approches nesting Brunnich's Guillemots, whose eggs he hoped to scavange Stunned tourists onboard a chartered ice-breaker boat were left in awe as the watched the previously undocumented spectacle. American...

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I'm just a shy guy! Timid chipmunk who tried to hide from the camera

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Camera shy: This chipmunk covered up for his close up by Ohio-based photographer Mark Hardymon This chipmunk wanted to see no camera, hear no camera - then a giant flash bulb drove him NUTS. The tiny rodent settled on a comfy stump before being startled by a photographer in a garden in Delaware, Ohio, United States. The Eastern Chipmunk was right at home in the garden of Mark Hardymon, 45, who caught his hilarious expressions on film. The tiny rodent had settled on a comfy stump before being startled by the photographer in a garden in Delaware A keen photographer, he tempts birds and other wildlife to the garden with seeds, the cute little thing's favourite food. Mr Hardymon, who builds custom houses for a living, made his furry friend comfortable by constructing...

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Dognapped: Motorbike thieves caught on camera grabbing a 16-week-old puppy from under owners' noses

By Stephanie Darrall Stolen: Alfie was snatched in front of his owners by two men on a motorbike Cruel thieves were caught on CCTV as they snatched a 16-week-old puppy while its owners who were standing just 10ft away before making off on a motorbike. The footage shows adorable spaniel Alfie gazing in to the camera lens as he is wedged between the two men in bike helmets Owners Pauline and Ian Parsons, both 45, and their daughters Ashleigh, 18, and Jordanne, 16 from Brierley Hill, West Midlands, said they were 'heartbroken' by the loss of their beloved pet. Mrs Parsons said: 'It happened just ten feet from where we were standing. 'One of the men just jumped off and grabbed him by the neck. 'It was over in literally a matter of seconds. We have only had him 10 weeks, we are gutted.' Dog...

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Baby elephant born at Disney's Animal Kingdom takes centre stage after mother's 22-month pregnancy... but will they call him Dumbo?

Newborn: The African elephant calf (pictured here) weighs a staggering 311lbs The elephant herd at Disney’s Animal Kingdom got just a little larger with the birth of a baby calf. Weighing 311lbs, the male African elephant was welcomed into the group by his mother Vasha, 10 herd members and a team of animal care professionals assisting with the birth. The 25-year-old mother delivered the herd’s sixth offspring after gaining more than 800lbs during a 22-month gestation. This latest addition, which has yet to be named, is the second calf for Vasha, who gave birth to a female calf, Kianga, in 2004. With support from the animal care team, the newborn, whose first tentative steps are becoming stronger and more confident, is now successfully nursing from his mother. A spokesman for Animal...

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Little and large: The colour co-ordinated kitten and Great Dane who are the best of friends

By STEPHANIE DARRALL Me and my Shadow: George the kitten is followed everywhere by his 7ft friend An abandoned kitten who was rescued when he was just days old has found a safe haven after striking up an unlikely friendship with a Great Dane. Bemused owner, Eve Hughes, 39, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, said the pair are 'inseparable' and love to curl up together for a snooze. George, who is 13 weeks old was adopted in June after he was rescued by the RSPCA.and soon won the affection of his owner's three-year-old Great Dane, Shadow. Dinner's up! The cat and dog also love to curl up for a snooze Weighing over 10 stone and measuring 32in high to the shoulder and 7ft long, Shadow towers over the 2lb kitten. But despite being 65 times heavier and eight times taller, doting Shadow follows...

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They're meerly friends: The unrequited love of one meerkat for his cuddly toy companion

By HUGO GYE Spot the difference: The Chessington meerkats have had to become used to their cuddly-toy visitors This meerkat may think that he's found true love at last. But his passion is likely to go unrequited - because he has fallen for a cuddly toy. The toy is one of many thrown into the meerkat enclosure at a theme park by excitable children who have bought them from the gift shop. The humorous encounter was snapped at Chessington World of Adventures, the large zoo and theme park in Surrey. I see you: This meerkat catches sight of an impostor in the enclosure Zoo keepers say the toy meerkats end up accidentally dropped in the enclosure at least four times a week. Manager Marc Boardman said: 'We sell a number of cuddly toy animals at our gift shops, including meerkats. 'And...

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