Animal pictures 2 - Hình ảnh con vật

Chris Humfrey, who runs the Wild Action Zoo in Macedon, Victoria, Australia, poses with some of the hand-reared Grey-headed Fying Foxes he has been caring for since the bats were born six months ago, after they were rejected by their mothers due to the recent wet weather.

A giraffe looks through the front door of Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya

A crocodile misses out on lunch by the skin of its teeth - as a wildebeest makes a miraculous jump high in the air to safety. The wildebeest had been crossing a river when it was ambushed by the croc. Photographer Andrey Gudkov captured the escape at the Masai Mara national park, Kenya.

Small fish dart to safety from the path of invading sharks. British photographer Alec Connah took the photo as the blacktip reef sharks swam through shallow water, scattering the fish on Lankayan Island, Borneo.

A baby loggerhead turtle is released into the ocean for the first time. The rescued youngster seemed to be loving his first taste of freedom after being rescued and nurtured by an expert team. Photographer Eric Cheng had been following the turtle rescue programme in Palm Beach, Florida and was able to capture the youngster's expression as it swam into the ocean

Here's a snake with a frog in its throat. Tour guide and photographer Luis Fernando Espin captured the scene in the Amazon Basin, Ecuador. "I was ready to have lunch and was walking from my cabin to the dining room when I saw the snake (Chironius exoeletus). I realised the snake was grabbing the tree frog (Osteocephallus taurinus) by its leg. I ran to grab my camera and took several pictures of it in action...

"...Forty-five minutes later the snake was still eating the frog and I took the last pictures before it swallowed it."

According to a Chinese family their 35 chickens have been living up a tree for the past five years. Zhang Fugen, from Lanxi in eastern China's Zhejiang Province, says five years ago his chickens abandoned the hen house he had built. "I don't know which one took the lead but from then on the chickens moved to the tree in the yard. Even on snowy days they prefer to live in the tree." According to Zhang the chickens fly up into the tree branches before dark and only come down early the next day. "Some lazy ones even stay on the tree for a whole day." He added: "The little chicks fly onto the tree as soon as they are three months old after learning from their parents". And it would seem that there is a strict pecking order, with each chicken not deviating from its own particular spot. Zhang says it's not an easy job to catch the chickens from the tree, and each time he has to net them using a fishing net. Luckily for Zheng, however, the chickens do still lay their eggs on the ground.

Amateur photographer Octavianus Darmawan has spent years capturing mother birds feeding their hungry chicks near his car service station in Jakarta, Indonesia. He said: "I'm always impressed when I see the mother birds feeding their chicks because I can see how difficult it can be to find food and raise their kids. I became appreciative of my own parents after watching these birds and it made me thankful for the struggle they'd gone through to teach me and raise me well."

Ticket the rat cuddles up to Tuxedo the cat, while Scarface the Pit Bull Terrier looks on. The harmonious inter-species dog-cat-rat family are owned by "Animal Whisperer" Brian Cottrill in Venice, California.

A dog jumps over crocuses flowering on a meadow near the river Rhine in Duesseldorf, western Germany

A dog dressed in costume parades through the French Quarter during the Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans

Fuzzi the dog is dressed and ready to take part in the Fat Thursday carnival in Cologne, Germany

A stylish cat has become an internet sensation thanks to its various hairstyles. Maru is seen trying out different looks in an online video in which the feline pokes its head through a hole. The Japanese cat tries hairstyles including a side-parting, wavy and bobbed hair and a pink afro. Maru has become popular on YouTube with over 80 million hits. Watch a clip here: http://bit.ly/hzGiea