• Say hi! Panda cubs wave, relax in adorable pics

    Katherine Feng / Solent News

    Wildlife photographer Katherine Feng captured these cute photos of panda cubs on a trip to China.

    By Meena Hart Duerson, TODAY
    A group of panda cubs are melting hearts this week as they play around and pose in a series of almost unbearably cute photos, from flashing a wave to kicking back and chilling out.

    The cubs were snapped in action at the Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan, China, according to photographer Dr. Katherine Feng.

    Katherine Feng / Solent News

    In this picture, a baby panda lies on its back in an incubator.

    One blissed-out panda cub was the picture of relaxation as he sprawled on his back in an incubator with his paws cupped behind his head.

    Medics weighed, measured and fed the 37-day-old before returning him to the see-through box, according to Feng, where he wriggled around and settled on his back.

    Katherine Feng / Solent News

    This mother panda carried its new baby in its mouth.

    The 65-year-old photographer also captured one panda lying on its stomach, its paw raised as if to offer a "high five."

    In another image, a panda is seen carrying its baby in its mouth just a few hours after the cub was born.

    "It was so tempting to pet and play with the baby pandas," Feng said, according to the Sun. "They are roly-poly balls of black and white and so cute to watch."

     

    Katherine Feng / Solent News

    Feng has been photographing pandas for years, ever since she formed a bond with the reserve on her first trip to China.

    The photos were taken at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan, China.

    Feng, a former veterinarian, became passionate about pandas when she first visited the Wolong Nature Reserve on a trip to China in 1982.

    Her photos were featured in the book "Panda Kindergarten," and the Colorado-based photographer now returns to the wildlife preserve several times a year.

    More from TODAY:

    Rare panda cub frolics for the public in zoo debut

    Lion love: Father meets his cub for the first time

    Cutest polar bear cub ever takes snow break

  • Cute baby squirrel wears tiny purple cast

    By Mish Whalen

    Did you love the story of the mysteriously purple squirrel? Check out this one, about a teeny-weeny baby squirrel wearing a teeny-weeny purple cast.

    Tim Goode / Solent News & Photo Agency

    According to Solent News and Photo Agency, this 3-week-old gray squirrel suffered bruising to her leg and was separated from her mother when she fell from a tree last week. The squirrel, named Violet, endured the ordeal when the branch that held her nest was cut down.

    Fortunately, the couple cutting down the tree spotted Violet and immediately phoned the Wildlife Aid Foundation for advice on what to do. The foundation, based in the English town of Leatherhead, took Violet in and have been feeding her a special milk formula, similar to what her mother would have provided.

    TODAY.com multimedia producer Mish Whalen hopes the little guy recuperates in a teeny-weeny animal hospital.

  • Cute, cuddly, panda cubs sleeping at nursery in China

    AFP - Getty Images

    A group of giant panda cubs nap at a nursery in the research base of the Giant Panda Breeding Centre in Chengdu, in southwest China's Sichuan province on Sept. 26. China has launched its once-a-decade panda census, trying to determine how many of the endangered animals live in the wild amid efforts to boost numbers. The census -- the fourth since it was first launched in the 1970s -- is also expected to ascertain pandas' living conditions, ages and any change in habitat.

    By Phaedra Singelis, NBC News

    A contender for our cutest thing ever?

    More information on the census.

    Updated: New video of the panda cubs below.

    A dozen panda cubs born to China's Giant Panda Breeding Center at Chengdu make their debut in the nursery of the research base. TODAY.com's Dara Brown reports.

  • Young snow leopard twins explore their new home

    Morgan Petroski / Albuquerque Journal

    Snow leopard twins, Kiran and Kalmali, born at the ABQ BioPark Zoo explore their new home with their mother, Kachina, on Wednesday, Sept. 21

    By Jonathan Woods, msnbc.com

    Two new arrivals are on display at the zoo in Albuquerque, should you happen to be nearby. Albuquerque Journal photojournalist Morgan Petroski visited the zoo to shoot photos of the cubs. You can see even more of the adorable-ness here.

    Morgan Petroski / Albuquerque Journal

    Snow leopard twins, Kiran and Kalmali, born at the ABQ BioPark Zoo, play in their new home in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday, Sept. 21. One of the cubs playfully falls on his back.

    Snow leopard twins, Kiran and Kalmali, born at the ABQ BioPark Zoo, are now exploring the exhibit with their mother, Kachina. The zoo is located next to the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

    Morgan Petroski / Albuquerque Journal

    One of the snow leopard twins explores its new home on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

    Take a look at more of our contenders for the cutest thing ever.

  • Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images

    Veterinarian Doctor Maria Diaz gives milk to a newborn lion at the Zoo and Eco Park 'Joya Grande' in the Santa Cruz de Yojoa municipality, department of Cortes, Honduras, on September 17, 2011.

    Awwww! Baby lion drinks from a bottle

    By Phaedra Singelis, NBC News

    Could this little one be a contender for our cutest thing ever?

  • Abandoned albino seal is now star of Russian aquarium

    sochi.delfinary.com

    By Mish Whalen

    December 7, 2011 update: We are happy to report that an albino seal who was abandoned by his family back in September has been brought to a Russian aquarium, where he is now happily thriving in an enclosure made just for him. The seal has been named Nafanya, after a Soviet-era cartoon character.

    sochi.delfinary.com

    "She has a good appetite, and always seems in a happy mood. She is such an unusual seal with very beautiful bright blue eyes," Yulia Frolova, who heads the dolphinarium, told the Daily Mail.

    sochi.delfinary.com

    The albino seal pup with rare reddish-brown fur was spotted in August under some logs on a Russian beach by photographer Anatoly Strakhov. The little guy had been rejected by his family and left to fend for himself, according to Caters News Agency.

    Anatoly Strakhov/Caters News Agency

    "He was hiding and waiting for his mother to come and feed him," Strakhov told the Daily Mail. "I was pleased to be able to capture such an unusual animal, but the poor seal is almost blind and so was unlikely to survive in the wild."

    Anatoly Strakhov/Caters News Agency

    Fortunately, as these photos from September show, Nafanya is safe and sound. The dolphinarium has a Web page devoted to him and you can watch a webcam of Nafanya being fed and blissfully swimming around. (Note that according to the website, the webcam is on only between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Moscow time; that's 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Eastern time.)

    sochi.delfinary.com

     

  • Jacquelyn Martin / AP

    Two cheetah cubs peek through wild flowers at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 31. The five cubs in the litter are 13-weeks-old. When they mature the cubs will become part of a national breeding program for the endangered species.

    Smithsonian cheetah cubs come out to play

    By Rich Shulman

    Has it really been seven weeks since we last saw these cubs in Animal Tracks? Should they be in the running for cutest thing ever?

  • Diptendu Dutta / AFP - Getty Images

    Indian army personnel use a backhoe during a rescue mission to save a wild elephant trapped in a water reservoir tank at Bengdubi army cantonment area some 25 kms from Siliguri on Tuesday, Aug. 30.

    Elephant rescued from reservoir tank in India

    According to AFP, a wild elephant cub fell into the water reservoir tank as a herd crossed the area. Army personnel of 16 Field Ammunition Depot along with wildlife elephant squad of Mahananda wildlife sanctuary joined forces to save the animal.

  • Peter Andrews / Reuters

    Despite handicap, plucky pup pursues pesky kitty

    By Emily Christensen-Flowers

    Meet little Ciuchcia, a 4-month-old orphaned German shepherd, who shows resilience to an early life of abuse as he chases a kitten with the help of a specially made wheelchair at a shelter for homeless animals in Poland. Ciuchcia (Polish for “steam train engine”) was paralyzed when he was run over by trains after being abandoned on tracks. What a testament to this courageous canine’s will to survive!

    Also, don't miss this four-legged fuzzy lifeguard.

  • Penn. Gov. Corbett introduces first pups Penny and Harry

    Dan Gleiter / AP

    Brother and sister Airedale terrier puppies Penny and Harry rest on the lawn at the governor's residence during an informal meet-the-pups session.

    Dan Gleiter / AP

    Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett gets a kiss from one the new "first puppies", Penny.

    By Rich Shulman

    They may not become as famous as first dog Bo, but they're pretty darn cute.

    As First Lady Susan Corbett's website reported:

    The newest additions to the Corbett family are two Airedales, Penny and Harry. Born in Pennsylvania, Penny and Harry arrived at the Residence in July 2011. The names were given to them by Pennsylvania children who won a statewide “Name the Pups” contest in August 2011.  Penny and Harry can be seen around the Residence, running the hallways, or out playing in the gardens that make the Governor’s Residence such a special place.

    Related: Pennsylvania's first pets in history.

     

     

  • Toledo Zoo via AP

    Elvira, one of the Toledo Zoo's Masai giraffes, cares for her newborn calf at the The Toledo Zoo, July 23. Elvira gave birth to a female calf late Saturday after a 15-month pregnancy. The yet-unnamed calf stood nearly six feet tall and weighed about 160 pounds at birth.

    Baby giraffe born at Toledo Zoo

    By Jonathan Woods, msnbc.com

    An Ohio zoo welcomed a baby Masai giraffe this weekend. Mother and daughter are doing well, Toledo Zoo representative Andi Norman told msnbc.com.

    Animal care staff are monitoring the two, ensuring they continue to bond before they make their debut to the public, hopefully in about a week.

    "Both mother and daughter are doing well, with Elvira exhibiting good maternal behavior and the calf nursing without assistance," Norman said.

    As the newborn gets used to her surroundings, zookeepers will begin picking names. Soon, Elvira and her calf will be available for public viewing in the Africa! exhibit.

    Masai giraffes are the tallest animals on the planet, standing an average of 16 to 18 feet when fully grown, according to the zoo. Despite their size, they can run at speeds up to 35 mph. They can be identified by their irregularly shaped spots, which are as unique and identifiable as human fingerprints.

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