

PLATYPUS: A platypus baby, or 'puggle,' is held before being transferred back to its burrow after emerging for the first time at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in 2006. Greg Wood/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE
AYE AYE: An Aye Aye, a type of lemur, sits in a tree in Madagascar. NEWSCOM
BEAVERS: Gerhad Schwab of Germany takes a beaver out of its cage before releasing the animal to its new home in the Zasavica River. Koca Sulejmanovic/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE
STAG: A rutting stag bellows in a wildlife park in Aurach, Austria, in October. Kerstin Joensson/AP
POODLES: A toy poodle is groomed while waiting to compete at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York's Madison Square Garden. Ray Stubblebine/Reuters/FILE
WOOLY MAMMOTH: Ellie, a mammoth is joined by two possums in 20th Century Fox's 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.' 20th century Fox/AP
RED PANDA: A red panda sits in a tree at the Riga Zoo in Latvia. NEWSCOM/FILE
BISON: A bison rests in the woods. NEWSCOM/FILE
MEERKATS: A meerkat stands upright at Transfrontier Park in Kalahari, South Africa. NEWSCOM/FILE
TASMANIAN DEVILS: Two young wild Tasmanian devils are seen in captivity as part of a breeding project at the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park in Taranna. Anoek De Groot/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE
CHINCHILLAS: Chinchillas, native to the Andes Mountains in South America, cannot sweat, and dissipate heat by routing blood to their large ears. NEWSCOM/FILE
BUSH BABY: Also known as a Lesser Galago, a bush baby is a small nocturnal primate native to Africa. NEWSCOM/FILE
BADGER: A baby badger is one of a group of orphaned animals that the St. Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in London has been caring for over six weeks. NEWSCOM/FILE
KODIAK BEARS: A Kodiak bear takes a bath in his enclosure at the Duisburg Zoo in Germany. Roland Weihrauch/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE