The king of the jungle has a soft spot after all. (You'll need to click on the video link to see it).

It looks like the way I hug my Porterhouse at Ruth's Chris right before I dig in.

God love you maddog! I too have a LOVE for beef--my absolute weakness!

I hope Rick Santorum doesn't see this.

or Ellen Degeneres.

This is much better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuuesBhOR9g

tealsea, that's great! Too cute.

I wasn't sure if there's already another thread re: animals. This is simply for your enjoyment & pleasure. Please add anything related to amazing situations with animals:

Here's my 1st contribution.

So glad this topic came up. Big animal lover here. Actually big ape lover here. (no jokes please) They just fasinate me. Orangutans, Bonobos, Chimpanzees and Gorilla videos have been one of my main pasttime activities for the last few months.
Youtube has 100s of videos and there are many other sites for more educational info. My favorite are Bonobos, a smaller looking version of chimps. If bonobos aren't sleeping or foraging for food, their having sex. Their all bisexual. Doesn't matter to them the sex or age. Other than humans, they're the only species to copulate in the missionary position, look into each others eyes during any type of sex and will french kiss whenever the mood hits them.
They're called the 'peaceful ape'. And us humans could learn alot from them. 'You can't make war while having an orgasm', one primatologist said. Ok, I'll shut up now.
Anyway, glad this thread was started.

Yeah I like apes too. And bonobos are a fascinating bunch.

There's a Gibbon's rescue shelter out here in one of the suburbs of LA. I've visited & they are such cute animals. Most have been rescued from people who think they make cute pets & later find out that as adults they easily think that their owners are their life partners. ...True but sad cuz they can become quite distraught & in some cases violent if they are in a confused environment. The center helps them to become reacquainted w/ other Gibbons & to find their true life partners.

Edited for the following:

Of course, they are also on the endangered species list so the shelter helps rescue many of them where their natural habitat has been decimated or completely destroyed.

I bit off topic, but still related to this thread is this great article. Glad to hear about this, especially since it relates to my own backyard.

Check out the video too!

SC

Great article, but I have a question.

Why would there be a need to turn this off again. They say in case of drought. Given the torrential rains that LA has had recently, is it not a better solution for better water storage and management, instead of sucking rivers dry?

They've been talkin for years 'bout building more reservoirs to "catch" the torrential rains for future human consumption here in So Calif. But like all things in this country/state related to $$, many people hate the words "new taxes," even if the positives outweigh the negatives. Go figure...

I'm hoping that in the near future as people cont to become much more eco-conscious that projects like these aren't an issue & they become mandated fixtures. We'll have to wait & see however.

Edited for the following:

So the answer to your 1st ques is that it's "cheaper" to turn this off again & use up the natural resources rather than spend tax $$ to build reservoirs.

Is Southern Ca still in a drought? I know it was for about ten years around the mid-nineties. I've heard Lake Mead and the Colorado River supplies much of the water to this area. And it's drying up from what I've heard.

It's gone thru + and/or - in terms of water Baxion. LA (& So Calif for that matter) has to change its approach in terms of its water needs--it has no choice!...& hopefully it's not too late down the road.

Just read this story: Dolphin leads whales to safety.

Not only can Macaws understand English, but they are bilingual & understand French too.
Not only are birds bilingual, they can also play golf & basketball too! Here's another smart bird.

David Beckham watch out!

Lets all be Bonobos
Seems like Bonobos are having all the fun. Hope the link works.

poor little guy

I felt so sorry for this little orangutan. He's just not quite big enough yet. You can see how upset he is. What always suprises me about apes is that they never have a false emotion.

Hope this link works also. I always have trouble posting these things. Perhaps next time I'll let this orang have a go at it.

The 2nd link didn't work...But the 1st one of those horny lil MoFos, the bonobos, did.

I couldn't get that link to work either. To bad it was really cute. On youtube it's under the title, 'disappointed orangutan', if you want to look it up.
So heres another clip about a little baby chimp. I'm sure we've all seen it before, but the classics never go out of style.
little chimp

Awww! Poor lil guy. He certainly is trying. Perhaps he's gonna be a gifted gymnast on the rings so I say sign him up now for our Olympics team for 2012.

Here, let me try to link it.

Cool, you got the link to work SCTrojan.
The video makes me want to run up and hug the little guy.
And I liked your soccer elephants. Wonder how much training they received and how much they do this for the shear enjoyment of it all. Looks like their having just as much fun as the spectators. I hear in India, they also have elephant polo. And for the, 'main event' of the day, the teams are always the British against the Indian.

Too cute!

Sea lion attempts to hijack boat.

...Btw, if you'd like cont to watch the following video 'bout the dog-duck friendship.

Considering that it's summertime guinea pigs love watermelon too! & by the sounds that they're making it must be really delish.

Meet Nora the piano-playing cat.

Can't wait for this National Geographic special. Wanted to give a heads up...

Btw, Buddhism teaches that all creatures are altruistic & therefore deserve to be treated much better by humans. This concept has stayed w/ me since I took a course in college on Buddhism.

Who can resist watching or hearing 'bout a baby panda!

This is too funny. What a cute kitty!

A therapy dog.

Dog saves his 11-year old owner from cougar attack. Sadly she got the brunt of the attack but looks like she's gonna be fine.