Lucky seal's amazing escape from the jaws of great white shark

A lucky seal launches itself to safety from the mouth of a great white shark - using the predator's razor sharp teeth for leverage.

Photographer Chris Fallows, 38, watched breathlessly as the Cape fur seal darted left and right in a desperate bid to evade the relentless attack 11-foot-long shark.

The massive creature caught the terrified seal in its mouth but failed to get a proper grip - allowing the seal to launch itself to safety as the shark tried to get a second bite.

Miraculously, the three-feet-long seal escaped with just a minor flesh wound off Seal Island in False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.

The nail-biting battle of wits lasted four minutes.

Chris, who also runs eco-tourism trips, was amazed to see such a narrow escape.

He said: 'Incredibly the young seal is using the teeth of the great white shark as a final point of leverage to push itself out of the shark's mouth.'

'Initially the seal was ambushed in a missile-style attack by the shark.'

'But at the last possible second the seal caught wind of the approach of the shark and attempted to take evasive action by jumping sideways.'

'The shark caught the seal but did not get a firm purchase and the seal literally was exhaled out of the shark's mouth as it attempted to bite down.'

'The seal managed to dodge, duck and dive and evaded another strike from the shark by the narrowest of margins although it did sustain a flesh wound.'

'It was bitten on its right hind quarter and although obviously painful it will probably not be fatal.'

The shark eventually tired of the attack and the seal was able to flee back to Seal Island.

It is thought the shark is about ten years old and the seal nine months old.
Chris said: 'Seals get away about 50 per cent of the time, although very seldom by such narrow margins.

Tiny caterpillars cross the road by forming an incredible 17ft long convoy

This is the moment a group of tiny caterpillars formed an incredible 17ft long convoy to cross a road.

Some 136 caterpillars made the single line and wriggled top-to-toe across the road, linked by a thin silk thread which set their path.

And their safety-in-numbers approach had the desired effect as the slow-moving convoy was easily seen by motorists, who were held up for 20 minutes as it made its way across.

The spectacle was captured on camera by British tourist Jamie Rooney, who was visiting the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Jamie, from High Wycombe, Bucks, was in a Jeep full of tourists when their driver slammed the brakes just inches from the crawling caterpillars.

Jamie, 38, who works in website sales, said: "It was an incredible sight.

'We were out driving in Kruger National Park for a safari, when all of a sudden the driver shouted out and slammed on his brakes.'

'He managed to stop just in time in front of this amazing trail of caterpillars, which was stretching across the road.'

'Conservation is a massive deal in South Africa and the idea is that if there is any living creature in the road you have to wait patiently until it is safely across.'

'We got out to get a closer look and counted 136 caterpillars in convoy, all moving together across the track.'

'They were following a very, very thin silk thread on the ground and it took them about 20 minutes to get across the road safely.'

'Our guide had never seen it before, but he'd heard about it and explained they were migrating into the bush where they would disperse.'

'It's like the mass migration of bigger animals like wildebeest, but on a different scale and pace.'

'When they arrive in the bush, they turn into chrysalis and then butterflies.'

'It's a rare sight. It was an absolute joy to watch and a great experience to be able to get down close and see it first hand.'

Meet the California couple who keep a pack of wolves as their pets..10 in total..

If you're considering getting a domestic pet, your first thought might not be a pack of wolves. But this California couple have no fear about living with the powerful predators.

Paul Pondella and partner Colette Duvall have formed a bond with the animals over the years and, as these incredible pictures show, are very happy to share their lives - and their sofas - with them.

It all started when Paul rescued a female black Alaskan timberwolf hybrid, Shadow.

The product of a mating between a male domestic dog and a female wolf, she was welcomed into the house in Studio City, near Los Angeles, that Paul shares with Colette and is now the oldest wolf resident and alpha female of the pack.

The couple were so in love with Shadow and the idea of living with wolf hybrids that they introduced more of the animals - Allie and Takoda, who had seven newborn pups.

While they look as soft and cuddly as any pooch in these pictures, Paul said that they have needed to dedicate thousands of hours to train the animals because of their wild and fearsome nature.

He said: 'It is a fact that when wild animals become habituated to people, they may lose their fear of humans, especially if they are fed or if they associate humans with providing food, but like any large predator, wolves are perfectly capable of killing people.'

But now that they have been integrated into their unusual living arrangement they are completely at home with the humans - so much so that they are more than happy to slouch on the chairs, sofas and even the couple's bed as if they own the place.

The extraordinary half-wolf half-human family has become so large that it has outgrown its current home and Paul and Colette are now looking to move to a large ranch that will give them all enough room to play in.

When they move home they will carry on a project that has been a passion for the couple ever since Shadow first came into their lives.

When they began caring for the wolf dog hybrids Paul and Colette set out on a mission to educate children about the fabulous creatures and debunk some of the myths surrounding them.

Their program, the Shadowland Foundation, involves a variety of activities to highlight the plight of wolves and educate about nature through first hand experience.

Britain's fattest orangutan..Oshine..look at the belly!

Before you ask, no, Oshine the orang-utan is not happy about her new diet.

After all, when you’re used to burgers, jelly and sweets, a plate piled high with salad is bound to be a bit of a disappointment.

Weighing in at a hefty 15 and a half stone, tubby Oshine gives a whole new meaning to the phrase Great Ape.

But now, Britain's fattest primate is changing her ways.

After being rescued from the care of a couple of well-meaning but misguided, owners, Oshine is being put on a strict diet of fruit, yoghurt, lean meat and vegetables.

Keepers at Monkey World in Dorset hope the 13-year-old will be back to normal size within a few months and ready to try for her first baby.

Oshine arrived at the rescue centre from South Africa where she was kept as a pet since she was a baby.

Her sedentary and unnatural lifestyle meant her weight rocketed. A wild, healthy orangutan would normally weigh between five and 12. stone.

Dr Alison Cronin, director of Monkey World, said: 'As she grew older, her owners found they could only keep her calm by constantly feeding her. They meant well, but it was misguided care.'

The owners contacted Monkey World two years ago when they realised they could not offer Oshine a healthy lifestyle as a pet.

She flew the ten and a half hours to Heathrow on August 31 in a specially designed cage and was immediately placed on a diet.

'We have been working to give Oshine a more natural life with others of her own kind for more than a year,' said Dr Cronin.

'The long-haul journey for such a delicate endangered species such as an orangutan is fraught with difficulties and danger.

'With Oshine’s weight problem we were especially concerned about her travel  arrangements and making sure that the journey was stress-free and safe.'

Although a fully-grown adult, Oshine is now living in the orangutan creche at Monkey World. She will live alongside four captive born babies born in European zoos who have been abandoned by their mothers.

The Monkey World team say living alongside babies will teach Oshine 'how to be an orangutan'.

Once she loses weight, gets fitter, and understands more about ape behaviour, she will 'graduate' into one of two breeding groups where it is hoped that she can start her own family.

‘Now that she is at the park, we have her on a healthy diet of vegetables and fruits and she is getting a lot more exercise climbing through the specially designed, two storey orangutan creche,' said Dr Cronin.

'It will take a few months for Oshine to reach a more appropriate weight and then she will be ready to meet a new man and consider a family of her own.'

Fisherman catches gigantic 30lb orange koi carp...

It might look like an enormously generous fairground prize.

But no goldfish bowl in the world could contain this catch.

The orange koi carp weighs 30lb - the same as an average three-year-old girl - and is thought to be one of the largest of its kind ever captured.

It took Raphael Biagini ten minutes to reel the creature out of a lake in the south of France - moments after fellow anglers told him they had spent six years trying to snare the legendary 'giant goldfish'.

Mr Biagini, pictured, said: 'To begin with, we couldn't tell what was at the end of the line, but we knew it was big.

And that catch easily topple this goldfish in this previous post. (http://animaldiscoveries.blogspot.com/2010/07/caught-5lb-16ins-goldfishwhat-miracle.html)

Facts you should know about elephants: They're NOT afraid of mice, BUT are terrified by ANTS

Mice are supposed to strike terror into the hearts of elephants - at least if Disney cartoons are to be believed.

But Dumbo's tormentors are actually even smaller, scientists claim.

Researchers have discovered that ants are the bane of elephants' lives, with the giants of the African savannah steering clear of trees infested with them just in case they crawl up their sensitive trunks.

The experts who made the discovery believe ants act as 'bodyguards' for some plants to keep trampling elephants at bay.

Dr Todd Palmer of the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya and the University of Florida said: 'It really is a David and Goliath type of story, where these little ants are up against these huge herbivores, protecting trees and having a major impact on the properties of the ecosystems in which they live.

'Swarming groups of ants that weigh about 5mg each can and do protect trees from animals that are about a billion times more massive,' Dr Palmer said.

'It's yet another example of how the little things run the world.'

The idea that elephants fear mice has long been a staple of cartoons, and features in the 1941 Disney classic Dumbo.

However, animal behaviourists say there is no evidence of rodent-phobia among any mammal.

The discovery that elephants dislike ants came when Dr Palmer and colleague Dr Jacob Goheen noticed elephants avoiding a species of acacia tree in the Kenyan plains.

The trees are found across the African savanna and are normally devoured and trampled by hungry elephants. However, they stayed away from acacia drepanolobium trees if they were home to guardian ants.

'The elephants avoided those trees like a kid avoids broccoli,' Dr Palmer said.

'It seems that elephants simply do not like ants swarming up the insides of their trunks, and I can't say I blame them.

'An elephant's trunk is a truly remarkable organ, but also appears to be their Achilles heel when it comes to squaring off with an angry ant colony.'

The scientists believe that adding ant colonies to vulnerable plants in Africa could prevent deforestation and protect crops.

Elephants have such large appetites they can soon convert woody areas into open grassland.

'A big issue in east Africa is elephants damaging crops, which is one reason elephants have been harassed and sometimes killed,' he added.

The moment fireflies turn woods into an wonderland!

Amateur photographer and full time physicist Kristian Cvecek spends nights in woodlands waiting for fireflies to come out so he can capture them on camera.

German Kristian, 31, from Erlangan, near Nuremburg, photographs the creatures near his home. He uses slow shutter speeds to capture on camera their movements between the trees and ferns.

Fireflies are winged beetles and give off a green luminous glow from chemicals in their lower abdomen in a process called bioluminescence.

As babies - the larval stage of the insects' lives - they use their glow to warn off predators but as adults they use the same phenomenon to attract mates.

He said: 'The fireflies are also called in some regions "'St. John bugs" because they start to fly at around the St. John's Night which is between the 23rd and 24th of June.'

In Germany, many people celebrate the summer solstice with a bonfire and name it after St John.   'Depending on the weather they can start to fly earlier in the month and fly for around 3-4 weeks' added Kristian.

'As I don't have the opportunity to go into the woods every night, I always have a limited amount of nights to shoot them, so getting the pictures I wanted took a lot of perseverance..'

'They come out between nine and 10 o'clock at night, so it is already quite dark and they show up nicely against the dark background.'

Orangutan cradles lion cubs in unlikely babysitter role. Can you imagine that?

Nothing beats cuddles with mum.

But when she's no longer around, these two lion cubs can rely on the most unlikely of babysitters.

Hanama, a three-year-old male orangutan, is only too happy to cradle Skukuza and Simh, who are both male and a month old.

The ape formed a bond with the boisterous cubs as soon as he met them, according to their keepers at Myrtle Beach Safari, in South Carolina in the United States.

Hanama lies on his back to let the month old lions relax on his stomach and is often caught gazing down affectionately at the cubs before hugging them.

The park’s director, Dr Bhagavan Antle, said: ‘Hanama is very smart and he was brought in to babysit the cubs.

‘He took to them straight away and watches over them as they play. He runs about with them and sometimes picks them up to have a cuddle.

‘He will occasionally balance them in his arms and shows them a lot of love.’

It is standard practice for cubs at the park to be taken away from their parents at birth, because they are thought more likely to survive.

Sadly, the cubs will have to be separated from Hanama in about six months because they will have grown too large for him to handle.

‘They will grow apart eventually, it’s inevitable,’ Dr Antle said.

Learn how tourists in this theme park can swim beside killer crocodiles. What an experience!

Tourists to this unusual theme park are sure to get some holiday snaps with a difference.

Inspired by the popularity of cage shark-diving, a tourist attraction has opened that allows adrenalin junkies the chance to swim with killer crocodiles.

And, as these incredible pictures show, participants can get up close and personal with one of the worlds deadliest creatures.

All that separates thrill-seekers from the huge saltwater crocodiles is a five-inch thick perspex box that has, we are assured, undergone 'extensive' safety testing.

Fearless participants climb into the clear container - nicknamed the Cage of Death - which is suspended on a monorail track that runs above four crocodile enclosures.

Two grated doors lock into position on the top of the 10ft tall box which is then lowered into the water and comes to rest 2ft beneath the surface.

To ensure that the paying customers get their money's worth, chunks of meat are tied to the bottom of the cage. The crocodile instantly drawn to it when it enters the water.

The results vary from the crocs 'eye-balling' the swimmer, rubbing against the cage or going into a full on 'aggressive attack' against it.

Customers pay about £100 to spend 20 minutes swimming alongside the crocs; the largest of the beasts measures a whopping 18ft and weighs over 125 stone.

One of the mighty reptiles at the Crocosaurus Cove park in Darwin, Australia, is named Burt. Film buffs might remember him from the first Crocodile Dundee movie - he's the one who nearly ate Linda Koslowski's character.

Sallie Gregory, spokeswoman for the park, said: 'Many people find the opportunity of getting to within a few inches from the jaws of these crocodiles exhilarating.'

'People often get activity ranging from an aggressive attack to a casual eye-balling and swim past where the crocs are so close that they rub against the cage.'

'Most of the women who take part say they are happy just to watch the crocodiles while guys tend to want the action and attack.'

She added: 'One of our directors who has extensive experience with crocodiles wanted a concept that allowed people to get up close to these ultimate predators in a safe environment.'

'The cage runs on a overhead monorail system, suspended over the enclosures and is lowered into up to four separate enclosures as part of the 20 minute experience.'

'The perspex is about 135mm thick and extensive testing in both the manufacturing and the way the crocodiles would react to the cage were carried out prior to the testing team entering the cage.'

'The top of the cage has two grated doors to stop anything entering the cage and a back up motor and separate chain operates to ensure that in the event of a malfunction, the cage can continue to operate.'

'The cage generally allows about two feet from the surface of the water though this can be adjusted if people are not strong swimmers and would prefer to keep their head above water.'

Odd-looking fish that looks like Shrek! Yes..it is indeed UGLY..

It is not exactly blessed in the looks department.

In fact some divers who came across this unusual-looking fish off the Japanese coast have now nicknamed it 'Shrek' because of its bizarre features.

'Shrek' is a type of Asian sheepshead wrasse which are well-known for the odd protrusions on their head and are relatively common in the waters around Japan.

But this particular specimen is so odd-looking that scuba divers who videoed him instantly christened him after the famous animated ogre from the hit films.

He is estimated to be 30 years old and feeds on shellfish and crustaceans on the ocean floor.

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Take a look at these world's largest moths! Big..and Beautiful

With their stunning colours and 12in wingspan they're not the sort of insect you could ignore.

And now not just one but nine of the world's largest moths have hatched at a butterfly sanctuary in Gloucestershire.

The giant Atlas moths emerged from their chrysalises at Berkeley Castle Butterfly House.

Atlas moths are named after the intricate, colourful map-like patterns on their wings. It is the first time the moths have successfully bred and hatched offspring in two years.

The moths, which do not have fully-formed mouths and survive off fat they built up as caterpillars, only live for a maximum of two weeks.

They are unsteady fliers and they do not stray far. Their sole purpose of life as a moth is to breed. Atlas moths are found in the tropical and subtropical forests of South-East Asia and are common across the Malay archipelago.