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What in the world is this? It’s a rusty-spotted cat, one of the smallest wild cats on the planet, weighing only between 2 and 3.5 pounds when fully grown. Adorable, yes?

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Ondřej Chvátal

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Sleepy cubby by Penny Hyde 

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myfluffypiggies

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Mondays always need more meerkat. Fun fact: Meerkats are able to kill & eat venomous snakes and scorpions without being hurt, as they have some immunity to the venom. 

Photo: Ion Moe

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💖💖💖 sleepy fluffy baby 💖💖💖

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Delta’s got her “catwalk walk” down. This matriarch turned 20 yrs old over the wknd, an incredible milestone since a tiger’s median life span in the wild is 14-18 yrs.

Photo by Mike Wilson

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Cheetah Cub by © franslanting

A four week old cheetah cub is checking out its surroundings from a rock outcrop on the Serengeti Plains. It had emerged only days earlier from a den where its mother had hidden her offspring.

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A happy feeling when a wo(o)lf chooses to enter my room

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Local sprouts

jackleena

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Bambi takes a refreshing drink by Andreas Hemb

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Welcome back to some of our early migratory birds!

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Wolf by Niko Pekonen

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closely related to sharks but with long, flat bodies and wing-like pectoral fins, mobula rays are ideally suited to swooping through the water - here off the gulf of california - yet seem equally at home in the air, so much so that they have earned the name “flying rays”. mobula rays can reach heights of more than two metres, remaining airborne for several seconds. 

mobula rays are quite elusive and difficult to study, so biologists are not quite sure why they jump out of the water. theories vary from a means of communication, to a mating ritual (though both males and females jump), or as a way to shed themselves of parasites. they could also be jumping as a way of better corralling their pray, as seen with them swimming in a circular formation. 

what is known about mobula rays is that they reach sexual maturity late and their investment in their offspring is more akin to mammals than other fishes, usually producing just a single pup after long pregnancies, all of which makes them extremely vulnerable to commercial fishing, especially as a species that likes to come together in large groups.

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“Foal” in love with our newest Somali wild ass at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. 

Check out the foal video here. 

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