Wildlife rehabilitators take care of wounded or orphaned animals, nursing them back to health and preparing them for a life back in the wild. This leads to a lot of cute baby animal videos. (Roll over for descriptions.) [more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good on Jan 7, 2008 - 14 comments

Giraffe mating battles can be brutal but they are generally gentle giants. Man's fascination with these exotic creatures can be tracked from 9,000 year old rock art to the quest for exotics that brought them to the courts of Medici-era Florence, Restoration Paris, and Imperial China, spawning much curiosity and fanciful illustration. Today, giraffe-o-philes can get up close and personal in Kenya's Giraffe Manor. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 30, 2007 - 32 comments

Elephants are self aware (news story, videos). "As a result of this study, the elephant now joins a cognitive elite," said researcher Frans de Waal at Emory University. [Past posts tagged with "elephant" "elephants"]
posted by salvia on Oct 31, 2006 - 52 comments

How To Have A Ton Of Fun Raising Baby Squirrels. Husband and wife document their adventures raising these little spazz-monsters with many photos and some Flash movies. Via Cute Overload.
posted by Gator on Jan 2, 2006 - 40 comments

We all know that otters are terminally cute (warning: streaming WMV), but the Federal Government is only just now figuring out that they're also smarter than humans give 'em credit for. And they have no respect for the poor widdle shellfish industry. No respect at all. Awww.
posted by Gator on Nov 16, 2005 - 27 comments

Remember the threads last week about R/C planes with digital cameras? Rank amateurs. Animal Planet has upped the stakes in the unmanned aerial vehicle race by strapping a video camera to an eagle. That's right, an eagle. It's incredible. Check out the dogfight in particular. They're also doing a bunch of other cool things with animals and technology.
posted by loquax on Dec 6, 2004 - 28 comments

Junglewalk
If you need a picture of an alpaca, some video of a nudibranch or audio of a nightjar.
posted by johnny novak on Sep 16, 2003 - 2 comments

Feeling Peckish? Like a big bald eagle? Order one now! Humour might be one way of trying to protect endangered animals but the bushmeat trade is no joke and fighting it is damn difficult, probably as difficult as fighting world poverty. Does anyone else feel that these jokes just aren't funny anymore?
posted by MiguelCardoso on Sep 19, 2002 - 9 comments

Orlando is under attack by alligators: something that isn't that uncommon, but seems particularly bad this year. We're used to losing a hunting dog or two, but when the gators start taking down horses (don't worry, the horse lived) and killing young children in an urban environment, you've got to wonder what's happening. Tip to tourists from a local: if chased by a gator, flee in a zig-zag pattern (gators are pretty fast, but turn like Sherman tanks.)
posted by bclark on Jun 26, 2001 - 18 comments