A thirsty cat finds a drink in a vacant birdbath.

1. One-year-old Sumatran tiger Jumilah, left, licks the nose of sibling Dumai during a birthday breakfast at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. The cubs, two of three born in October last year, are a valuable addition to the zoo's tiger breeding program. Sumatran tigers only number about 400 in the wild.

2. Cinta, a baby Sumatran orangutan, and his mother, Indah. The animals are a critically endangered species that may become extinct in 7 to 10 years due to rampant logging of their habitat. The zoo hopes to teach guests about the illegal logging crisis and the importance of only buying wood products that have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as forest and orangutan friendly.

3. Students Justin Risica and Natalie Browne watch as trainer Lynn Marcoux works with Naku, a beluga whale at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Conn. The students are participants in an alternative high school program at the aquarium.

4. A black Lab walks past a pair of dogs sculptured from steel near Sydney's Bondi Beach. Some 111 sculptures by local and international artists are on display in the annual 'Sculptures by the Sea' exhibition, situated along a 1.4 mile stretch of coastline from Bondi to Bronte Beach.

5. Hundreds of sparrows fill the sky above the city of Pontevedra, Spain, at sunset. Although native to Europe, Asia and north Africa, sparrows are distributed worldwide and tend to prefer areas that have been modified by humans, including farms, cities and suburban areas.

6. A male snub-nosed golden monkey rests with his mate and young baby in Qinling, a city located in China's Shaanxi Province. The golden monkey, admired for its brilliant yellow fur, is protected in China. The population of golden monkeys in China was reported to be about 10,000 in 2003.

7. For the fourth year in a row, a small flock of whooping cranes takes to the skies over Indiana after leaving Boone County at dawn, on the longest ultralight-led migration of an endangered species in history. Led by three ultralights on a journey of nearly 1,200 miles through seven states. The flock will complete its trip once it reaches Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.

8. A police officer honors a dog in the Nepal Police Dog Squad during the Yamapanch Festival in Kathmandu. The dogs are draped with garlands and their faces smeared with traditional crimson powder. Crows, dogs, cows, bulls and people are worshipped during the festival, which lasts for five days.

9. A photo shows three hibernating dormice, in the winning photograph of the BBC TV Countryfile photographic competition. The image was taken by Steven Robinson at Wakehurst Place in southern England.

10. Precious, an English mastiff dressed in an angel costume, sleeps on the sidewalk in Miami Beach, Fla., while his owner hands out flyers for a local costume store.

11. A group of camels enjoy a meal at a private farm near the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The camel farm, with over fifteen camels living on it, is the first of its kind in Bulgaria.

12. An eleven-year-old female gorilla named Tamani gestures as if making a phone call at the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The zoo has launched a project to collect old cell phones and recycle the batteries for resale. The funds will be donated to the Gorilla Conservation Program, a protection project for gorillas in Africa.

13. A tiger bares its teeth at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo, east of Bangkok, Thailand. The zoo was established as a unit of the Zoological Park Organization of Thailand on June 1, 1978 and is now home to 300 different species of animals.

14. Two young seals Kirsa, left, and Naja play in the outdoor pool of the seal station in Friedrichskoog, Germany. Once they have gained more weight, both animals will be set free. To ensure they reach full size, the seal pups receive plenty of fresh herring each day.

15. Anna Britton, 88, reaches out to Kirby, a Pet Assisted Therapy dog dressed in a sheep Halloween costume. Kirby visited with hospital patients at the Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles. The animal therapy program began at the hospital in 1990 and brings specially-trained dogs to patients' bedsides twice each week.

16. Ali, a Chihuahua, swims across the pool under partly cloudy skies at his home in Fort Smith, Ark.

17. Rosl, a 34-year-old hippopotamus at the zoo in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, receives a birth control pill . Rosl has been pregnant 13 times and the zoo has now put her on oral contraceptives, which were originally designed for cows.

18. A diver helps move a Cuvier's beaked whale, one of two that washed ashore in Spain's Canary Islands. Researchers blamed the whales' deaths on recent NATO naval exercises in the area. Around 10 whales washed ashore in the Canaries following similar naval exercises in September 2002.

19. Jennie and Danny Garnage take in the sunset at the Ala Moana Beach Park in Honolulu, Hawaii, while their dog, Malu, keeps an eye out behind them. Malu was adopted from the Hawaiian Humane Society in 1996.

20. A thirsty cat finds a drink in a vacant birdbath.

21. Young bucks gather on top of a dune on Bald Head Island, N.C. With no natural predators, the deer population is tough to control on the resort island. In 2002, 149 deer were killed to thin the herd. A study by the Bald Head Island Conservancy is trying to determine the deer's effect on the ecology of the island.

22. A polar bear munches on ice cubes and watermelon to beat the heat at South Korea's Everland Amusement and Animal Park in Yongin, south of Seoul.

23. A frog stays cool and avoids predators in an algae-covered pond at Powell Gardens near Lee's Summit, Mo.

24. Jacob Heider, 11, plays with a family of baby raccoons in Oconto, Wis. Jacobs' father, Sylavan Heider, cares for orphaned animals at the Wildlife Sanctuary Rehabilitation Program in Green Bay, Wis. The racoons will be released into the wild when they are mature enough to survive on their own.

25. A baby humpback whale drowns after becoming caught in anti-shark netting off the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. Animal rights groups have repeatedly called for the nets to be phased out, notably during the annual whale migration, and replaced with baited hooks, which target only larger sharks.

26. Belle, a golden retriever, makes an appearance at the American Red Cross Safety Camp in Rochester, Minn., where she helped teach children about pet safety. Belle wears sunglasses in the summer to help protect her eyes from both the sun and insects when sticking her head out of the car window, said owner Donald Franck.

27. A newly hatched Giant Galapagos tortoise, left, is shown at the Zurich Zoo next to an adult tortoise. The Giant Galapagos tortoise is an endangered species.

28. Chimpanzees enjoy some cool bottled water at the Montgomery Zoo in Montgomery, Ala., during the zoo's 'Beat the Heat' program, which provides cool-down activities for the animals during the hot summer months.

29. Cora, a baby tiger, nurses from her adoptive mother, a four-year-old dog, along with a puppy, in Villeneuve-d'Asq, northern France. Cora was born in a circus and rejected by her own mother.