Check out these gorgeous animal photos!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

The rest:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2HfmfQ/knf8BIHZ:l26p_fqj/www.whattodowhenbored.ca/2014/05/23-mind-blowing-animal-pictures.html

[Dont call me Shirley]

1. Ohh the baby giraffe...cute!

[Suich]

2. Those are fantastic!

Thanks for posting!

[station001]

3. That crab is so tiny!! :D nt

[calimary]

6. Welcome to DU, station001!

Glad you're here! That crab is stunning! So tiny and yet so intricate. DANG. Just astonishing. Nature's pretty damn wonderful!

[hifiguy]

4. That tiger cub is NOT happy

about being dunked in the moat.

[calimary]

5. Owl Versus Woodpecker. Who knew?

AMAZING! Just spectacular images!!! The blood pheasant! The tadpoles! DANG!!!

[murielm99]

7. They might seem mundane,

but I liked the tadpoles. The picture is beautiful.

[shenmue]

8. Squeeeeeee!!

[Stuart G]

9. k and r..nice pics. nt

[panader0]

10. I like the Latin for Grizzly

ursus arctos horriblis

[ailsagirl]

11. #4 makes me sad

I hate seeing wild animals made to perform for the public.

What right have we to pluck them from their natural habitat? Of course, they may well be safer in captivity, knowing how their numbers are plummeting in the wild (again, due to man)

But still... like the desecration of Mount Everest, it bums me out completely.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the photos-- thanks!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. I think they do that for the animals' safety.

They want to be sure they can swim before allowing them near the pond in the enclosure - there's no performing involved. Unfortunately tigers are highly endangered and the only way they might survive in the long term is by breeding them in zoos.

[ailsagirl]

14. That makes sense...

though I wish things were different. Like the Carolina Parakeet. Before I started birding, I had no idea we had our very own American parakeet once upon a time-- it's extinct now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet

Uh oh-- this thread may get locked because I veered from the original subject! Mea culpa

[Iwillnevergiveup]

13. Subjects and photography each stunning. nt