Little Panda Cub

(CHINA OUT) A carer looks after a Giant panda cub in an incubator, one of the first twins delivered here this year, at the Bifengxia base of China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center on October 24, 2008 in Yaan of Sichuan Province, China. Following the traditional Chinese custom, the centre held a naming ceremony for the twin cubs 100 days after their birth. Thirteen giant pandas have been born this year at the base.

Another fish that knows how to protect itself is the "Puffer fish". When it is threatened, it quickly inflates its body into a large spiked ball, too large and too spiny for predators to swallow.

Dangerous But Beautiful Lion Fish

Many forms of life in the Red Sea are quite dangerous, but it's for their own protection. The "Lion Fish" is one of them. It easily qualifies as one of the most beautiful fish to be found in the Red Sea, but its beauty comes with a price. The long spines on its back and sides are very poisonous, and other fish (as well as smart humans) give it a wide berth.

symbiosis

Very often, two very different animals will live side by side and help one another. This is called symbiosis. One of the most famous examples of symbiosis is that of the Clown or Anemone Fish and the Sea Anemone. The Anemone resembles a flower and has dozens of stinging tentacles that it uses to sting its food and drag it into its mouth. The Clown Fish, though, is immune to the stinging because of a coat of mucus on its body. The Anemone provides shelter and protection to the Clown Fish, and the Clown Fish, being a rather messy eater, provides free food for its living home.

Baby Giraffe

A five-day-old baby giraffe stands by its mother, Denisa, in their compound at the Safari Park zoo on July 15, 2009 in Ramat Gan,Israel. The still unnamed female calf is twenty-year-old Denisa's eleventh offspring, which zoo officials say is a world record for a giraffe in captivity.

Cute Weasels

Didn't expect to find these in Egypt, did you? These are weasels, just like the ones found in North America, Europe, and Asia. They are found all over the world as they can adapt to fit any environment. Weasels will eat anything, and they do devastating damage to the domestic fowls such as chickens and ducks, eating the eggs as well as the small chicks. For many Egyptians, the weasel is a great nuisance. They are often found living in the city, even in the walls of houses like mice, stealing food wherever they can find it.

Egyptian Sand Cat

The Sand Cat is another mammal that is well-adapted to living in the desert. It has thick mats of fur on the bottom of its paws to protect them from the scorching sands. Sightings of the Sand Cat are rare. There have been less than five different sightings in the 1990's. Like many smaller desert animals, it does not have to drink water; it gets all of its moisture from its prey, which includes small rodents and the occasional snake. One would think that being a wild cat, they would tend to be larger, but they're not much bigger than a domestic house cat. In fact, the Sand Cat is believed by many to be among the ancestors of the domestic cat. After all, Egypt is where the cat is first thought to have been domesticated. We'll meet more Egyptian cats later.