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Friday, December 11, 2009

World Animal Day

Earlier (October 4th) was World Animal Day. Started in 1931, the day was set aside to celebrate animal life in all its forms around the world, and humankind's relationship with the animal kingdom. Collected below are 41 photographs of animals around the world, at play, at rest, at work and more, taken over the past several weeks.

1. A zookeeper feeds milk to a newborn baby giraffe at the zoo of Duisburg October 16, 2009. The male giraffe was born on October 3, 2009. (REUTERS/ Ina Fassbender)
2. Baby crocodiles swim at the "La Boca" crocodile farm in the Cienaga de Zapata national park, Cuba on Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. The crocodile nursery is a top attraction at the park, Cuba's equivalent of the Florida Everglades, the Caribbean's largest bioreserve with 1.5 million acres of mangrove-choked canals teeming with the wildest Cuban wildlife. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)
3. A Mastin Napolitano rests during the World Dog Show in Bratislava, October 10, 2009. The dog show saw more than 30,000 dogs from 59 countries registered for the event. (REUTERS/Petr Josek)
4. Keeper John Mostyn lets a diamond python wrap itself around his head at Sydney Wildlife World in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009. The Wildlife park is holding a survey to establish which of the two types of animals the public find more creepy, snakes or spiders. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
5. A bird flies over the Great Pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo October 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Marko Djurica)
6. Flare, a Doberman, and trainer Yvonne Mancino, not pictured, of Columbus, Ohio, compete in the 60-weave pole racing competition of the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Purina, Whitney Curtis)
7. Terminally ill patient Jackie Beattie, 83, touches a dove on October 7, 2009 while at the Hospice of Saint John in Denver, Colorado. The dove will later be released as part of an animal therapy program designed to increase happiness, decrease loneliness and calm terminally ill patients during the last stage of life. (John Moore/Getty Images)
8. A roe deer stands in a field near a village of Gavrany, some 230 km (144 miles) northwest of Minsk, Belarus on September 23, 2009. (REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko)
9. A technician monitors the heart of Rafiki, a 25-year-old silverback lowland gorilla, during a CT scan at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Sept. 2, 2009. An all volunteer medical team operated on the gorilla on Sept. 5, to remove an infection from a bone behind his right ear. He has since recovered to normal health. (AP Photo/Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Sean Anglum)
10. A crowned solitary eagle flies to its trainer Andres Capdevielle before being released after going through a rehabilitation program at the Buenos Aires zoo, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Less than 1000 crowned solitary eagles remain in the world as of 2004, landing them on the list of most endangered species in South America, according to Buenos Aires Zoo's Raptor Birds Rescue and Conservation Project. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
11. A Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) ranger stands next to a carcass of a buffalo that died from the prolonged drought at Tsavo West national park, southeast of Kenya's capital Nairobi, October 9, 2009. Successive failed rain seasons in Kenya have led to a drought that experts say is the worst in the country since 1996. (REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya)
12. A Nenets tribesman sits in front of a herd of reindeers on the Yamal peninsula, in Russia, north of the polar circle, August 4, 2009. The Nenets tribespeople of the frozen Yamal peninsula have survived the age of the Tsars, the Bolshevik revolution and the chaotic 1990s, but now confront their biggest challenge - under their fur-bundled feet is enough gas to heat the world for five years. (REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov)
13. A woman sleeps accompanied by her cat, inside an evacuation center for victims hit by floods caused by Typhoon Ketsana, locally known as Ondoy, in the town of Taytay, Rizal east of Metro Manila, October 13, 2009. (REUTERS/John Javellana)
14. A deer bellows as it forgages for food in the early morning sun as cooler temperatures bring on the autumn season at Dunham Massey on October 12, 2009, Altrincham, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
15. A small turtle sits in a plastic basket along with others while being released into the water at the natural reserve "La Flor" in San Juan, 150 km (93 miles) south of Managua, Nicaragua on October 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer)
16. A tame wolf is seen in the village of Nadbiarezha, some 250 km (156 miles) northwest of Minsk, Belarus on September 23, 2009. (REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko)
17. Jockeys compete in a draft horse race in Obihiro, Japan on Sept. 27, 2009. Draft horse racing originated as a popular past time event for farmers between harvests in the old days when horses were the primary work force. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)
18. A flock of starlings fly over Rahovec, some 80 km (50 miles) from Pristina, Kosovo on October 15, 2009. (REUTERS/Hazir Reka)
19. A baby gibbon is held by its mother in Vienna's Schoenbrunn zoo September 25, 2009. The gibbon, born on Wednesday weighed between 300 - 400g. (REUTERS/Zoo Vienna/Daniel Zupanc)
20. A zebra rests in an enclosure in the zoo in Dhaka, Bangladesh on September 15, 2009. Grubby cages, inexperienced keepers and poor equipment have long sullied the reputation of Dhaka zoo, but now a string of deaths has led to charges of serious incompetence against its management. (MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
21. Rehabilitated African Penguins in boxes await their release at Boulders beach breeding colony in Cape Town September 26, 2009. The release formed part of a national 'African Penguin Day' event organised by SANCCOB - the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. (REUTERS/Mark Wessels)
22. A "Gaza-made zebra", (a donkey painted with stripes), stands in a cage at the "Happy Land Zoo" just outside Gaza City on October 3, 2009. Faced with an Israeli blockade, the Palestinian zookeepers were unable to bring in real zebras. Their solution was to paint a couple of donkeys at the zoo, which have become symbols of life under the Israeli blockade, a local attraction and a bit of a joke. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)
23. Pugs Mochi, left, and Olive pose for a photo dressed in their Halloween costumes as flowers at their home in Huntington Beach California on Oct. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
24. A dog scavenges through the remains of the village of Vaigalu on Samoa's southern coast October 2, 2009, after a tsunami destroyed much of the area and killed scores of people. (REUTERS/Tim Wimborne)
25. Acehnese youths ride during a traditional horse race as part of Visit Indonesia at Blang Bebangka, Central Aceh , Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, Sept. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Heri Juanda)
26. During the annual King Richard's Faire, Hercules, the worlds largest big cat, a 900 pound liger, is given a hug by Dr. Bhagavan Antle on September 17th, 2009. (John Tlumacki / Boston Globe staff)
27. A newly born pygmy hippopotamus walks around its enclosure as the mother feeds at the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam on September 30, 2009. (ED OUDENAARDEN/AFP/Getty Images)
28. A US Marine dog handler from Fox Company 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines rests on his dog "Patrick" as his Platoon settles into a makeshift patrol base during the launch of Operation Germinate into the restive Bhuji Bhast Pass in Farah Province, southern Afghanistan, on October 7, 2009. (DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images)
29. A Hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas) watches visitors in Bratislava Zoo in Slovakia on October 4,2009. (SAMUEL KUBANI/AFP/Getty Images)
30. A humpback whale passes by world paddleboarding champion Jamie Mitchell off the northern New South Wales state coast of Australia on September 22, 2009. (REUTERS/Liam O'Brien and Jason Muir)
31. A captured stray dog stands in a cage in a newly opened animal shelter in Belgrade, Serbia on October 9, 2009. A new animal shelter was opened on the 9th to rescue and place homeless animals, officials said. (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images)
32. An international team of scientists perform an autopsy and DNA analysis on Lyuba, a baby woolly mammoth. Sucked to her death in a muddy river bed, Lyuba spent 40,000 years frozen in the Siberian permafrost where her body was so perfectly preserved traces of her mother's milk remained in her belly. (RIA NOVOSTI/AFP/Getty Images)
33. An Arctic Fox checks out his surroundings near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland in this image released by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Polar bear cubs, the Arctic fox and caribou herds are among the victims of dramatic changes in the Arctic due to climate change, a study published on September 10, 2009 found. The study published in the journal Science reviewed recent ecosystem-wide studies of the biological responses to Arctic warming. (Eric Post/AFP/Getty Images)
34. A monkey gathers food thrown by Palestinian schoolchildren visiting a private zoo in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on October 3, 2009. Zoo parks in the Gaza Strip had their share of losses during the last Israeli offensive. Hungry and thirsty, most animals were unattended for over three weeks. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)
35. Milk farmers squirt milk on riot police during a demonstration outside the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on October 5, 2009. Milk producers from all over Europe protested against lower selling prices of milk outside a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers trying to tackle a crisis in the dairy sector. (REUTERS/Yves Herman)
36. A dog subdues a mock intruder during a function to celebrate the 25th Raising Day of the Indian National Security Guard (NSG) in Manesar, India, south of New Delhi, on October 16, 2009. (REUTERS/Adnan Abidi)
37. Patrick Ivison, 15, and Ricochet, his golden retriever surfing partner, take a break on the beach after a surfing session at the Cardiff State Beach in San Diego on Oct. 6, 2009. Ivison is a quadriplegic, having suffered a spinal injury in a car accident. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
38. Patrick Ivison, 15, and Ricochet, a golden retriever surfing partner, cruise toward shore during a surfing session at the Cardiff State Beach in San Diego on on Oct. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
39. A lioness roars in its cage at a private zoo in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on October 3, 2009. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)
40. A Russian musher drives a team of Alaskan malamute sled dogs during a 5-km race just outside St. Petersburg on October 3, 2009. Russian mushers are preparing their dogs for the upcoming snow and competitions. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)
41. Rescued kittens Esme, left, and Ringo look out from their enclosure during media preview of "Meet the Breeds", Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009 in New York. The pair is up for adoption and will be at the "Meet the Breeds" event at the Jacob Javits Center on Oct. 17 and 18th. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)