A group of giant panda cubs nap at a nursery at the research base of the Giant Panda Breeding Centre in Chengdu, in southwest China’s Sichuan province. China has launched its once-a-decade panda census, trying to determine how many of the endangered animals live in the wild amid efforts to boost numbers. The census - the fourth since it was first launched in the 1970s - is also expected to ascertain pandas’ living conditions, ages and any change in habitat. According to the count a decade ago, there were 1,596 pandas left in the wild in China, with 1,206 of them living in Sichuan.
Smile, everybody! Cownose rays appear to be posing, but they’re really just crowding diver Jay Schwander as he feeds a French Angelfish in the Caribbean Reef exhibit of the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans.
Other sharks cannot be trusted.
Philippines Opens First “Cosplay” Maid Cafe by Peter Blaza
(Reuters) - Waitresses in frilly French maid costumes, some with elaborate blonde ringlets tumbling down their shoulders, serve coffee and tea, pampering customers at Manila’s first “maid cafe.”
The recently-opened cafe in capital Manila, also a Philippines first, hopes to cash in on the growing popularity of “cosplay” or costume play among Filipinos, in which participants dress up as favourite characters from anime or manga comics to indulge in a little escapist fantasy.
The trend originated in Japan, where maid cafes — a subset of cosplay restaurants — have been around for over a decade.
In “Meidolls,” the Manila cafe, waitresses dress as anime-inspired French maids, complete with wigs with long tresses, dresses and pinafores. Some wear cat or rabbit ears with their outfits, while others sport pink hair.
The waitresses treat their patrons as masters and mistresses, acting like servants in a private home.
Via Pinoy Tumblr.
10 day old cheetah cub Kiburi opens his eyes, San Diego Zoo Safari Park Animal Care Centre. Picture: REX FEATURES.
RAWR
A pink katydid is seen in this photograph by Carol Freeman. Its unusual colour is the result of a genetic mutation known as erythrism, similar to the recessive gene that afflicts albino animals
Picture: CAROL FREEMAN / CATERS NEWS (via Pictures of the day: 26 November 2010 - Telegraph)
This may look like a creature from a Harry Potter movie - at first glance it looks like a bull has sprouted wings and is about to lift off. The amusing picture was snapped as the bull was chased by a crane, the tallest flying bird in the world. The sight was caught on camera at Keoladeo National Park, in Rajasthan, India, by photographer Jagdeep Rajput, who said people had compared it to Pegasus, the mythical winged horse.
Picture: Jagdeep Rajput/solentnews.co.uk (via Pictures of the day: 26 November 2010 - Telegraph)
Giant pandas eat carrots at the Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base of Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre in Ya’an, Sichuan province. Six giant pandas left their home in southwest China’s Sichuan Province for Guangzhou to add cheer to next month’s Asian Games
Picture: REUTERS (via Pictures of the day: 28 October 2010 - Telegraph)
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