Adorable odd couple: Chimp's maternal instincts awakened as she feeds milk to an baby tiger

By Daily Mail Reporter


Completely at ease in each other's company, they're the best of friends.

These adorable pictures show a two-year-old chimpanzee called Do Do feeding milk to Aorn, a two-month-old tiger cub.

The odd couple appear to be getting on tremendously as Do Do's motherly instincts take over.

Scroll down to see a video of the chimp and tiger cub playing together

Maternal instinct: A two-year-old chimpanzee called Do Do feeds milk to Aorn, a two-month-old tiger cub


Aorn gratefully laps up the milk as Do Do tenderly holds the tiger in her arms.

For some unexplained reason Do Do is wearing a pair of denim shorts - perhaps to protect her thighs from Aorn's claws.

They were photographed at Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand.

The crocodile farm, used as a tourist attraction, houses some 80,000 crocodiles and is the largest in Thailand.

Bonding: The animals both live at Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok

For some unexplained reason Do Do is wearing a pair of denim shorts - perhaps to protect her thighs from Aorn's claws


Its owners claim to hold the largest captive crocodile, measuring an astonishing six metres long and weighing 2,465lbs.

Regular crocodile shows are staged during which zookeepers place their heads inside the reptiles' mouths.

However, the farm doesn't just contain crocodiles.

As you'd expect from these pictures, monkeys and tigers also live there, alongside elephants, lions, horses and hippopotamuses.

Heat test: Do Do drinks some of the milk, perhaps to make sure the temperature is okay for the tiger cub


Aorn gratefully laps up the milk as Do Do tenderly holds the tiger in her arms




source:dailymail

Rise of the apes: Chimps really could shoot guns like they do in new film trailer

By Daily Mail Reporter


Scroll down for video

Out for justice: Scientists claim chimps can be trained to wield weapons like this animal in a viral ad for new prequel Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes


One video clip shows an ape firing a machine gun at a group of African soldiers, while another sees a chimpanzee wielding a machete and hacking a carcass to pieces.

The clips, shot to look like fly-on-the-wall documentary footage, appear scarily real.

But they are actually part of a viral advertising campaign for the new film Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Could it happen? The clips, shot to look like fly-on-the-wall documentary footage from Africa, appear scarily real


A prequel to the classic Planet Of The Apes movies, the new film shows how apes in the present day come to be supremely intelligent beings who take over Earth.

Although science-fiction, experts claim that real chimpanzees could be trained to use weapons.

Professor John Mitani, from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, told Life'sLittleMysteries.com: 'I wouldn't doubt that you could train a chimp to wield a gun in the manner shown.'

However, don't panic just yet. For while the sight of an ape holding an AK-47 would be cause for alarm, scientists are agreed that it's unlikely a chimpanzee would reach for a weapon to inflict intentional harm on a human.

Summer blockbuster? The new film is scheduled for an August release in the U.S.


More likely, the animal would simply mimic how he had seen a man hold a weapon.

Professor Mitani added: 'When shooting the gun, I'd be hard-pressed to think that the chimp can really understand what he's doing.'

But chimps are aggressive animals, as Professor Mitani well knows.

Last year, he was lead researcher on a study of wild chimps and found that gangs of the apes routinely attack rival chimps to seize their land and massacre their young, preserving their dominance.

The finding shattered the popular myth of chimpanzees as peace-loving animals and highlights how they share the worst aspects of human behaviour.

You'll believe an ape can talk: Previews from Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes took the internet by storm earlier this year

Pop culture icon: Roddy McDowall as Cornelius in Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, the third film in the franchise


Over the ten-year study, researchers witnessed 18 attacks and found evidence of three others carried out by a large, male-dominated group of 150 chimps at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda.

The likelihood of their taking over the planet though is unlikely - mainly due to there not being enough chimps compared to the almost seven billion humans.

Professor Mitani said: 'Before humans showed up on Earth, the planet was literally filled with apes. It was the planet of the apes, 20 to 50 million years ago before humans came on the scene.

'Since then, that ape diversity has been lost to the point that we only have five different kinds.'




source:dailymail

Just hanging out: The nature photographer's daughter whose best friends are elephants, chimps and giraffes

By Daily Mail Reporter


Give me a lift: Shibu's trunk lifts Amelia off the ground as she poses for this photograph four years ago


She's swung on an elephant's trunk, cuddled a chimpanzee and had a nap with kangaroos, but this is no real-life Jungle Girl, as Amelia Forman has met some of the world's most exotic animals just by tagging along with her mother in the U.S.

Her adventures began at the age of three when her photographer mother Robin took her along with her as she went to work at private homes and game parks as far afield as New York and Texas.

Now aged 11, Amelia's mother has produced a series of touching images showing the remarkable bonds the child has been able to form while on the photo shoots.

Go on, gives us a cuddle: Amelia bonds with chimp Ricky during a visit to an animal park


'I love animals and work with them quite extensively,' said Robin Schwartz, who lives in New Jersey.

'I had produced a series called "Primate Portraits" and through that I had built up a network of contacts in the animal community in New York state and subsequently through other parts of America.

'As part of my work with chimpanzees, lemurs, gibbons and smaller monkeys inside a circus family in 2002 my daughter was sometimes there and she was photographed.

'The first time was when she was three years old and she met a young chimp named Ricky.

'Their rapport was instant and they were great together. They just sat there kissing and became firm friends instantly.'

However, in 2004, a double family tragedy for Robin prompted her to embark on what was to eventually become her project and printed as one of a five book series called 'Amelia's World', published by The Aperture Foundation.

Cosy chat: Giraffes Geoffrey and Twig move in for a tete-a-tete with Amelia in this picture taken last year

Time for a nap: The youngster has a nap as she gets up close to these kangaroos


'My mother and mother-in-law died quite close to each other and it knocked me for six,' said Robin.

'After that though, I realised that it was so important to spend time with my daughter.

'So we came to the understanding that if she was to come with me on my photographic work our deal would be that the only times I would take pictures of her would be when she was with animals.

'She loves them, she is so natural with them.

'She is a shy girl, but can have more confidence with a giraffe, or a chimpanzee than a fully grown man or woman could have with another person.

'We spend time most summers attending fairs and meeting contacts in the animal community, where Amelia can come close to elephants like Shiba, who simply picked her up with her trunk.

'That was a magical moment for me and Amelia. It really was like Amelia was talking to Shiba, just like you would with a person. It was beautiful.'

Robin says she is aware of photographing Amelia around wild - albeit highly trained - animals.

'I don't want to put my daughter in harm's way,' said Robin.

'But things can happen any time with anyone. The animals are partly pets, I talk to the owners.

'It is a risk, just like walking to school.

'This is a way for us to spend time together and brings my daughter and me to the animals we both share a deep love for.

'We both feel lucky to get this close.'

With such a close proximity to animals all her life, it is no surprise that Amelia, now 11, plans to work with wild animals in later life.

'I want to become a primatologist when I grow up,' explained Amelia.

'I want to work with gibbons in Thailand, that is my aim.

'The one thing that upsets me most is when people ask me if being close to large giraffes, kangaroos, elephants or chimpanzees is scary.

'It isn't at all, I am not scared around them, we respect each other.

'If I don't like the feeling I get off one animal then I will not go near to it. We are cautious

'But my favourite experience so far has been with a beautiful gibbon called Maddie in Texas.

'I feel very lucky to have had these experiences with these animals.'


Source:dailymail