Cats are well-known for being able to squeeze into even the tiniest of spots – but you’ve probably never seen them quite like this before!
In his adorable yet mesmerizing series of images, photographer Andrius Burba takes a look at all kinds of furry and fantastic moggies – from underneath.
From furry fluff-balls to hairless kitties, felines from all corners of the globe make up the creative photographer’s latest project.
Andrius, from Lithuania, created a technique whereby his camera is hidden in a Perspex box, that the cats are encouraged to walk across – resulting in some truly wonderful captures. (Caters News)
[Yahoo! News}- The one-day Supreme Cat Show is one of the largest cat fancy competitions in Europe with over 800 cats being exhibited. Exhibitors aim to have their cat named as the show’s ‘Supreme Exhibit’ from the winners of the individual categories of: Supreme Adult, Supreme Kitten and Supreme Neuter.
Norwegian Forest cats Bostinforest Chewbacca and his Grandfather Normystic Lord Burr participate in the GCCF Supreme Show at NEC Arena on October 27, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Cats participate in the GCCF Supreme Show at NEC Arena on Oct. 27, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Persian cat Riascatz Dandy Lion earns winner of Supreme Cat 2018 in the GCCF Supreme Show at NEC Arena on Oct. 27, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Norwegian Forest cat Bostinforest Darth Vader participates in the GCCF Supreme Show at NEC Arena on October 27, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Abyssinian cat Javier earns second place for Supreme Cat 2018 in the GCCF Supreme Show at NEC Arena on October 27, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
British Blue kitten Schalikatz Romeo Y Julieta participates in the GCCF Supreme Show at NEC Arena on October 27, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Toyger cat Tobysden Eris participates in the GCCF Supreme Show at NEC Arena on October 27, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Hundreds of thousands of marine animals — fish, reptiles, birds and mammals — die every year after ingesting or being entangled in garbage carried by ocean currents.
Portuguese artist Paulo de Oliveira’s shocking composite images of animals being strangled by discarded nets and gorging on plastic rubbish serve as a stark warning of the damage caused by human waste.
In his series, a baby seal lion swims with a fishing net around its neck, a turtle munches on a coffee cup, a whale shark consumes plastic bags and a fish eats the remnants of a plastic lid while swimming through a sea of garbage.
De Oliveira, a 64-year-old former advertising executive turned professional diver and photographer, said: “I created these composite images to illustrate the amount of plastic garbage polluting our oceans. I wanted to make people understand the enormity of this environmental attack and how it affects the entire marine food chain. It is a theme that needs strong images that one often cannot capture directly in nature with the necessary quality.
“Nothing that can be seen in these images is unrealistic fantasies, though. All this happens every day in some parts of the oceans. It has already been witnessed by me and by many people but, except for honorable exceptions, it has not been directly portrayed in nature with force that I have tried to present in these compositions. In general, people respond well to images even when they know they have not been captured directly in nature. As I worked in advertising, I see this technique as just another tool that allows me to express my creativity.” (Caters News)
A sea turtle eats a styrofoam cup. Plastic bags and other plastic garbage drift through oceans driven by wind and currents. (Composite photograph by Paulo de Oliveira/ARDEA/Caters News)
A titan triggerfish, Balistoides viridescens, eats a plastic object. A lot of sea animals ingest plastic garbage because they think its edible food. (Photo: Paulo Di Oliviera/ARDEA/Caters News)
A sea turtle eats a plastic detergent bottle. Plastic bags and other rotting plastic trash drift through oceans driven by wind and ocean currents. (Photo: Paulo Di Oliviera/ARDEA/Caters News)
A cotton swab is seen inside a comb jelly. This transparent animal, a planktonic predator, feeds mostly on other comb jellies that are pulled into its large mouth and swallowed whole. (Photo: Paulo Di Oliviera/ARDEA/Caters News)
A Pacific hermit crab, coenobita compressus, crawls wearing a lid of a plastic bottle as a shell. The hermit crabs uses empty shells to protect the soft part of its abdomen and make it inaccessible to predators. (Photo: Paulo Di Oliviera/ARDEA/Caters News)
A young northern fur seal, callorhinus ursinus, tangled in a nylon rope, grimly drags a string of nets, cables, and fishing wires behind her. (Photo: Paulo Di Oliviera/ARDEA/Caters News)
[Caters News}- One committed photographer spent a grand total of 3,000 dive hours trying to get the perfect shots, capturing beautiful images of a rare shark feeding frenzy. Laurent Ballesta’s images show the glimmering gray reef sharks hunting in swift packs, flying through the water and feasting on the likes of helpless grouper.
The challenge Laurent, 44, faced to get these images in Fakarava Atoll, French Polynesia, cannot be overstated: The grouper there spawn only once a year under a full moon, sometime in June or July, and only for around 30 minutes. In total, capturing the set of feeding frenzy images required 21 weeks of diving, day and night, spanning four years and 85,000 images.
Laurent Ballesta’s images show the glimmering gray reef sharks hunting in swift packs, flying through the water and feasting on the likes of helpless grouper. (Photo: Caters News)
The men also decreased the time for Laurent to decompress from 20 hours to six. (Photo: Caters News)
The grouper there spawn only once a year under a full moon, sometime in June or July, and only for around 30 minutes. (Photo: Caters News)
One committed photographer spent a grand total of 3,000 dive hours trying to get the perfect shots, capturing beautiful images of a rare shark feeding frenzy. (Photo: Caters News)
There was also the matter of not getting bitten, as the diver was not in a shark cage or using a protective suit. (Photo: Caters News)
With a committed team, a strategy and a mix of oxygen and other gases, Laurent began his work in 2014, returning for the next four years. (Photo: Caters News)
One fox is captured curled up sleeping in a straw nest. (SWNS)
[Yahoo News}- These enchanting images capture a rare glimpse into the lives of wild foxes who trusted a wildlife photographer to enter their forest lair.
The bushy-tailed creatures look almost like characters from a fairy tale as they’re pictured playing, hunting and feeding their young.
Ossi Saarinen, 21, spent months growing close to the foxes before being rewarded with the set of pictures which truly capture their natural beauty.
He said: ‘Getting close to foxes is difficult. I prefer is to let them see me and learn I’m not a threat to gain their trust.
‘I try to shoot in a beautiful morning or evening light that makes the photos looks different than if they were taken in normal daylight.
‘I believe I became some kind of “friend” with them as they started to let me closer and closer all the time.’
Ossi said: ‘I think they are very beautiful animals and their behaviour and life is interesting, however they are also very challenging subject.’ (SWNS)
But Ossi also pointed out that his methods of approaching the creatures slowly doesn’t always work. (SWNS)
The bushy-tailed creatures look almost like characters from a fairy tale as they’re pictured playing, hunting and feeding their young. (SWNS)
Each time Ossi attempts to photograph a new fox, he has to start the whole process of familiarisation again. (SWNS)
One fox is captured curled up sleeping in a straw nest. (SWNS)
‘Usually they let me be around if I act calm and don’t make any sudden moves or high noises’ (SWNS)
Ossi tries to familarise himself with the foxes over a period of time so that they begin to recognise and not fear him. (SWNS)
‘I believe I became some kind of “friend” with them as they started to let me closer and closer all the time,’ he said. (SWNS)
As the drought in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park stretched on, the waterholes dwindled to pools. Flocks of Lilian’s lovebirds congregated together and when the coast was clear they descended to this pool. They shuffled forward, taking it in turns to drink and bathe, as if on a conveyor belt.
[Yahoo! News}- Majestic birds and colourful sea creatures are only some of the breathtaking animals to make the shortlist for the People’s Choice award in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year annual competition.
This year, almost 50,000 submissions from 92 countries were entered for the prestigious award.
The shortlisted images are currently on display at the highly-acclaimed exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, until the vote closes on 5 February 2018.
The winner of the vote will then be showcased until the exhibition closes on 28 May 2018.
The ‘People’s Choice’ annual award recognises exceptional competition entries as chosen by the public.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the longest-running competition of its kind.
The competition is a vital part of the Natural History Museum’s mission to inspire a love for the natural world and unlock answers to the big issues facing humanity and the planet.
As the drought in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park stretched on, the waterholes dwindled to pools. Flocks of Lilian’s lovebirds congregated together and when the coast was clear they descended to this pool. They shuffled forward, taking it in turns to drink and bathe, as if on a conveyor belt.
Lakshitha was on safari in Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, when he spotted an unusual sight – a lilac-breasted roller riding a zebra. Normally they prefer to perch high up in the foliage, but this roller spent an hour or more riding around and enjoying the occasional insect meal. Lakshitha waited for the surrounding zebras to form the perfect background before taking this tight crop.
The Arctic is beautiful all year-round, but in the late winter, when temperatures reach -30 ̊C (-22 ̊F) and everything is white and the sun stays low on the horizon, it’s stunning. Josh was on a boat in a fjord across from Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, and encountered this polar bear walking along the edge of the ice. She was curious, walking past the boat twice – just long enough for Josh to take a shot with her white coat glowing in the setting sun. After satisfying her curiosity, she silently walked off into the distance.
When polar bear mothers and cubs emerge from their dens in the early spring, the cubs stay close to their mothers for warmth and protection. Once the cubs are strong and confident enough, they make the trek to the sea ice with their mother so that she can resume hunting for seals. Debra waited six days near the den of this family, in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada, before they finally emerged. In the most challenging conditions she has ever faced, temperatures ranged from – 35 ̊C (-31 ̊F) to -55 ̊C (-67 ̊F) with high winds, making it almost impossible to avoid frostbite and keep her camera gear functioning properly. (Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
Jan spotted this small southern whitefaced owl in a tree at a campsite in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. These owls have black-tipped ‘ear’ tufts and usually lay their eggs in the old nests of other birds. Jan was able to frame a shot of this striking bird looking down at him as it didn’t seem bothered by the comings and goings of the campsite.
Luciano had to climb the cecropia tree, in the protected Atlantic rainforest of southern Bahia, Brazil, to take an eye-level shot of this three-toed sloth. Sloths like to feed on the leaves of these trees, and so they are often seen high up in the canopy.
Flach has constructed a powerful visual record of remarkable animals and ecosystems facing harsh challenges. (Tim Flach, from Endangered by Tim Flach)
[Yahoo! News}- Featuring animals from all around the world, Tim Flach’s latest book ‘endangered’ explores habitats on nearly every continent.
Often, Flach explores the close relationship between animals and humans, and in particular how humanity imposes and reveals its ideals when trying to understand and work with animals.
‘I feel this is the most complete book I have done and I feel very privileged to have done it,’ he said. ‘I do recall a photographer colleague of mine saying one never finishes a book one is only separated from it.
‘I wanted to draw out the character of my subjects. Clearly to do that with a bee or a tree frog eggs demanded an intimacy that can only be arrived at by a magnification, in this particular case times five, thereby showing detail that would not normally be visible with the naked eye.
‘Probably the most dramatic area [when putting together the book] was diving off the Galapagos islands while photographing Hammerhead sharks from 30m down. As a not highly experienced diver, the challenges of high currents and camera with underwater housing was a little bit stressful.
‘My next project is birds,’ he continued. ‘I want to photograph some of the most glamorous, beautiful birds – Birds of prey, Golden Pheasants, Bantoms and Macaws to celebrate the wonderment of birds.’
His other books include Equus, Dogs, Gods and More Than Human. Endangered is his fourth, and most ambitious, book.
Please click the pictures for larger images:
Flach has constructed a powerful visual record of remarkable animals and ecosystems facing harsh challenges. (Tim Flach, from Endangered by Tim Flach)
Tim travelled between forests to savannahs to the polar seas to the great coral reefs to complete the book. (Tim Flach, from Endangered by Tim Flach)
Tim Flach studied fine art at Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design. He emerged with a fascination for photography which has since led to numerous commissions, awards, solo exhibitions, and a presence in permanent collections and publications around the world. (Tim Flach, from Endangered by Tim Flach)
Endangered unfolds as a series of vivid interconnected stories that pose gripping moral dilemmas, unforgettably expressed by more than 180 of Flach’s incredible images. (Tim Flach, from Endangered by Tim Flach)
The book took two years to put together, with six months of research first. (Tim Flach, from Endangered by Tim Flach)
Flach said: ‘I feel this is the most complete book I have done and I feel very privileged to have done it.’ (Tim Flach, from Endangered by Tim Flach)
Hell is Here: The heat from the fire scorches their delicate skin as mother and child attempt to flee the mob. In the lead, the cow’s expansive ears are angled forward as she stoicly ignores the crowd of jeering men. Behind her, her calf screams in confusion and fear as the fire licks at her feet. Flaming tar balls and crackers fly through the air to a soundtrack of human laughter and shouts. In the Bankura district of West Bengal this sort of humiliation of pachyderms is routine, as it is in the other elephant-range states of Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and more. India is the world’s stronghold for the Asian elephant and boasts over 70 per cent of the global population of the species. But this achievement rings hollow as vital elephant habitats and routes continue to be ravaged, and human-elephant conflict escalates to a fatal degree. The ignorance and bloodlust of mobs that attack herds for fun, is compounded by the plight of those that actually suffer damage to land, life and property by wandering elephants and the utter indifference of the central and state government to recognise the crisis that is at hand. For these smart, gentle, social animals who have roamed the sub-continent for centuries, hell is now and here.
[AOL.com}- A horrific photo of a mother and baby elephant fleeing an angry mob in West Bengal, India, has won the top award in a wildlife photography competition.
The hard-to-look-at image, taken by photographer Biplab Hazra, shows the two panicked pachyderms desperately trying to flee a large group of laughing men who are hurling flaming tar balls and firecrackers at the creatures.
Hazra’s photo captures the exact moment one of the flaming weapons makes contact with the baby elephant, lighting the helpless animal’s hind legs on fire while it screams out in pain.
In his entry to Sanctuary Wildlife’s Photography awards, Hazra writes that this is sadly not an uncommon scene in India, “the world’s stronghold for the Asian elephant.”
The heat from the fire scorches their delicate skin as mother and child attempt to flee the mob. In the lead, the cow’s expansive ears are angled forward as she stoicly ignores the crowd of jeering men. Behind her, her calf screams in confusion and fear as the fire licks at her feet. Flaming tar balls and crackers fly through the air to a soundtrack of human laughter and shouts. In the Bankura district of West Bengal this sort of humiliation of pachyderms is routine.
Hazra said that, although India boasts 70 percent of the global population of the Asian elephant, vital elephant habitats and routes are often ravaged by human beings and the “human-elephant conflict” has escalated to a fatal degree.
“The ignorance and bloodlust of mobs that attack herds for fun, is compounded by the plight of those that actually suffer damage to land, life and property by wandering elephants and the utter indifference of the central and state government to recognize the crisis that is at hand,” he wrote. “For these smart, gentle, social animals who have roamed the sub-continent for centuries, hell is now and here.”
It remains unknown what became of the two elephants seen in the award-winning photo.
Hazra’s devastating image was recognized by Sanctuary, India’s leading nature and conservation portal. The organization says it aims to “communicate to readers the rationale for wildlife conservation and environmental protection with a focus on the Indian subcontinent.”
In the years since its inception, the group claims to have been at the fulcrum of innumerable wildlife conservation campaigns, conservation project and serves as a forum for wildlife groups, concerned individuals and non-profit organizations in the country.
Below are the photos of some of the winning photos.
Hell is Here: The heat from the fire scorches their delicate skin as mother and child attempt to flee the mob. In the lead, the cow’s expansive ears are angled forward as she stoicly ignores the crowd of jeering men. Behind her, her calf screams in confusion and fear as the fire licks at her feet. Flaming tar balls and crackers fly through the air to a soundtrack of human laughter and shouts. In the Bankura district of West Bengal this sort of humiliation of pachyderms is routine, as it is in the other elephant-range states of Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and more. India is the world’s stronghold for the Asian elephant and boasts over 70 per cent of the global population of the species. But this achievement rings hollow as vital elephant habitats and routes continue to be ravaged, and human-elephant conflict escalates to a fatal degree. The ignorance and bloodlust of mobs that attack herds for fun, is compounded by the plight of those that actually suffer damage to land, life and property by wandering elephants and the utter indifference of the central and state government to recognise the crisis that is at hand. For these smart, gentle, social animals who have roamed the sub-continent for centuries, hell is now and here.
Smoke on Water: Mystic plumes of smoke seem to waft across the waters of a lake in Lalbagh, Bengaluru. But it wasn’t mists that Vishruth Cavale was witness to that October evening, it was Cattle Egrets. Those ubiquitous herons that can be seen around waterbodies across the Indian countryside and urban nature escapes. Capturing the movement of these commonplace birds along the water’s edge in a milky smear, Cavale has made an enigmatic frame.
An Ephemeral Masterpiece: On Chivla beach in Malwan, Maharashtra, a starfish collaborates with pea crabs and sea shells to create a fleeting masterpiece that will soon be washed away by the tide. The delicate whorls and loops traced in the sand by the scuttling crabs emphasise the firmer movement of the starfish whose body imprints deeply but momentarily on the beach. These gentle, placid delights of being outdoors weren’t lost on Abhishek Nandkishor Neelam Satam, who found these artists at work while on a survey for the National Institute of Oceanography.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The image tells an inspirational story of a leopard that fell into a well in Nashik, Maharashtra, where it swam for an incredible 30 hours before being discovered alive, but barely. The cat would undoubtedly have died had it not been for local villagers, who once informed, swung instantly into action by alerting and pitched in to help forest officials. Using the remarkable ingenuity for which rustic people in India are renowned and at great risk to life and limb, villagers and officials worked in unison against all odds to save the leopard.
Valparai Vagrant: Are our closest cousins getting too close for comfort? At a pitstop on the drive up to Valparai in the Anamalai Hills, Sitara A. Karthikeyan observed a bonnet macaque perched on the tyre of a tourist vehicle. As various states in India lobby to cull or sterilise monkey populations, and grapple inefficiently with chronic monkey-human conflict, the simians continue to adapt as best as they can to live alongside their human neighbours. Unfortunately, root problems – shrinking wild habitats, an abysmal lack of waste management systems and the annoying penchant that tourists have for feeding monkeys – remain ignored. The soft tones of this image, the monkey’s pronounced bonnet and its disconcertingly expressive eyes call for a moment of introspection and the realisation that this is yet another species that’s trying to survive the age of the Anthropocene.
Forsaken: Death is inevitable. A spotted deer struggles furiously and helplessly as a bask of crocodiles enter into a feeding frenzy. It turns its eyes heavenwards, but seconds later is ripped to shreds by the ravenous reptiles. The acute desperation evident in this image captured on the banks of the Buthawa tank in Yala National Park is enough to trigger one’s fight-or-flight response. The ill-fated deer was originally felled by just one crocodile, but the others were quick to join in. Last year, we compared Milinda Wattegedara’s equally well-timed special mention image to a Monet painting, this year it’s reminiscent of a twisted, jungle-themed Botticelli. With his steady hand, he has framed a staggering, action-packed image that depicts the gory, no rules apply rule of Mother Nature.
Ginger female kitten Sabrina scent-rubbing against a young sandy lop rabbit. (Photo: Warren photographic/Caters News)
[Caters News}- These “snapcats” have found their bunny doppelgängers in a series of super-sweet photo shoots. Animal photographer Mark Taylor, from Surrey, England, and his assistants have scoured the U.K. to bring together carbon-copy rabbits and cats.
Sharing details such as fur and eye color, seating positions, startled expressions, and even matching markings on their noses, the cute animals look as if they came from the same litter. Some of them also appear to be the best of friends, with the pairs cuddling up to and even lying on top of each other.
Please click the image for a larger photo
Black Dutch rabbit with black-and-white kitten Felix. (Photo: Warren photographic/Caters News)
Sleepy ginger kitten, Tom, 3 months old, lounging on Sandy Lionhead-Lop rabbit. (Photo: Warren photographic/Caters News)
Sebuah video yang di siarkan oleh DailyMail Online di mana seorang budak berumur 3 tahun di Vietnam ‘menunggang’ seekor ular sawa yang dijadikan haiwan peliharaan keluarganya telah tular di internet.
Kanak-kanak tersebut yang bernama Truong begitu seronok menunggang ular sawa itu di kawasan rumahnya di perkampungan Ha Long di daerah Ha Trung.
Menurut DailyMail, ular tersebut berukuran 20 kaki panjang dan beratnya 80 kilogram (176lb).
Video yang berdurasi 2 minit itu mengejutkan orang ramai, dan bagi saya, ini adalah satu tindakan yang sangat tidak bijak dan tidak bertanggungjawab kerana ular sawa tersebut bukan sahaja boleh menelan kanak-kanak tersebut, malah juga anggota keluarganya yang dewasa.
Walapun keluarganya mendakwa bahawa ular sawa tersebut jinak dan selama empat tahun tidak pernah melawan tuannya, tetapi ia boleh bertindak dengan agresif bila-bila sahaja.
Bagi saya tindakan membiarkan kanak-kanak ini terdedah kepada bahaya yang boleh mengancam nyawanya adalah bertentangan dengan hak asasi kanak-kanak.
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