Magdalena Lohfeyer sits with an alpaca in a meadow of the Alpaca Land farm in Goeming, Austria
A young black bear falls from a tree safely into a net after being shot with a tranquilliser dart near downtown Missoula, Montana. A crew from Northwestern Energy helped hold the net with officials from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The bear, a 70-pound yearling, had been roaming near downtown before being chased into the tree
A young female snow leopard and her mother Laura (L) eye a piece of meat at the zoo in Leipzig, Germany
Four seven-week-old cheetah cubs sit in a basket at an animal hospital in Rostock, northern Germany. The mother of the babies died shortly after the birth so the cheetah cubs will be raised by hand
A keeper feeds two-week-old baby tiger Schuna at the zoo in Wuppertal, western Germany
A black Amur Leopard cub growls during a medical examination at the 'Serengeti' Safari Park in the northern German village of Hodenhagen
A prairie dog is attacked by starlings for a nut at St. Louis Zoo in St. Louis, Missouri
This is Oshine the overweight orang-utan at the Ape Rescue Centre in Monkey World who has been put on a healthy diet after becoming the fattest primate in Britain. For Oshine there will be no more sweets, jelly and marshmallows and instead she will be getting a healthy diet of fruit, vegetables and plenty of exercise
Elephant mother Manari carries the name plate of her elephant baby Dinkar (R) in their enclosure at the zoo in Hanover, northern Germany
An Asian elephant calf standing hours after being born at Melbourne Zoo, Australia. Elephant Kulab gave birth to the calf which weighs 142 kg and is the first ever male calf to be born at the zoo
The greater one-horned rhino calf Ajang makes an appearance with his mother Behin in their enclosure at Whipsnade Zoo, England
This picture taken by photographer Adam Ashton shows two kangaroos engaging in a boxing match as they fight over a female at Chester Zoo
A koala clings to a tree in the grounds of Parliament House on the National Threatened Species Day in Canberra, Australia
A Tasmanian Devil, found only in Tasmania, is held by a wildlife officer on the grounds of Parliament House on National Threatened Species Day in Canberra, Australia. The National Threatened Species Day commemorates the day the last known Tasmanian tiger died in 1936, urging the people to conserve other threatened species in the country
A ring-tailed lemur looks out of its cage at the zoo in Duisburg, Germany
A Grevy's zebra stares into the camera lens in its enclosure at Frankfurt zoo
A polar bear rests in its enclosure at Prague zoo, Czech Republic
A two-week-old Malay fish owl feeds on a baby mouse at the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore
A veterinarian feeds one of the two giant panda cubs born at Madrid's Zoo Aquarium. Hua Zui Ba, a female giant panda on loan from China, gave birth to two cubs on Tuesday after being artificially inseminated
Patrick Ivison, who suffers from a spinal cord injury and is confined to his wheelchair, catches a ride with Richochet, the surfing dog in Del Mar, California. Richochet helped Patrick and Ian surf and ride in the waves and has helped raise a lot of money for charitable causes
Two Humboldt penguins swim in the pool of their new enclosure at the Tierpark Sababurg zoo in Hofgeismar near Kassel, central Germany
Great crown cranes look at each other at the Jaszbereny Zoo in Hungary
An ostrich opens its beak in an attempt to nip at a camera during the first Ukrainian Ostriches Festival
Wildlife enthusiast Jimmy Hoffman, 50, scours the vegetation around his home in the Costa Brava, Spain, looking for praying mantises. After finding his subjects, Mr Hoffman can spend up to two hours waiting to get the perfect shot. He said: "My favourite picture is of a mantis about to catch a butterfly. Unfortunately for the mantis the butterfly was too fast and managed to fly away before it could be caught. I got my picture at exactly the right moment and it was very special for me because I had waited a couple of hours for something interesting to happen. After that I decided to called the picture 'patience'"...
...A trio of Empusa Pennata mantises perch, clutched together, on a twig