Dogs have spent thousands of years becoming man’s best friend, and nowadays it can be hard to tell whether some people love their children or their dogs more.

This tight bond formed between dogs and humans has made many other animals feel left out, so these clever critters have come up with a plan to make themselves more appealing to humans.

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The way they see it, if they start acting more like puppies then humans will have no choice but to love them, pet them and feed them ‘til they’re full!

This precious baby pygmy hippopotamus named Obi recently went for his first-ever swim under the close and caring watch of his mama. The hippos, who reside at Melbourne Zoo, are especially dear to zoo staff and visitors due to their endangered status. According to the zoo staff,

"The name Obi means heart in the Nigerian Igbo language, and he is certainly melting a few hearts here at Melbourne Zoo. Obi has grown quickly from his birth weight of around 5 kilos, putting on roughly 500 grams a day and now weighs over 13 kilos. He has been leaning to swim in the nursery yard pool and passed with flying colours. Today marked an important milestone for Obi as he ventured into the deeper water of the exhibit. Wild Sea Manager, Justin Valentine said ‘he loves the water and spends hours in the small pool, so he is ready for the next step."

Image and Video: Melbourne Zoo | Via Laughing Squid 

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The female cat in this video is a resident of Alaska. When she saw that a black bear had approached her home and was on the front porch, she — with the added oourage of the heavy door between them — sprang into action. Her owner Darlis Elliot told KTUU news that the bear hasn't returned since. Via Gawker 

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This naturally sweet little sugar glider apparently has an innate response when he feels the wind from a fan rushing across his fur. He gets in flight simulator mode and takes a practice run. So far, it's a breeze. Via Tastefully Offensive

This kitty’s layin’ down some sweet beats and dropping’ the bass for ya in this Vine from TripTrapChill™. He's lucky the cat didn't do an all-scratch riff. -via Everlasting Blort

Image: Rossparry.co.uk / Ceri Oakes

Glenn the Jack Russell terrier and his best friend Buzz, the Staffordshire bull terrier were rescued last month and are now in the care of Stray Aid rescue in Coxhoe, County Durham, UK. Rescue staff soon learned that the inseparable pair immediately becomes distressed if parted. Nine-year-old Buzz acts as the eyes of ten-year-old Glenn. Buzz assists Glenn with finding his bed and food and giving him a gentle nudge in the right direction if he needs it. Their rescuers will only adopt out this super sweet duo together, thankfully. 

Learn more about Glenn and Buzz, see additional pictures and get the link to inquire about adopting them here. 

Image: Rossparry.co.uk / Ceri Oakes

 

Few animals are as good at headbanging as the totally tough parrot, and screeching comes as naturally to them as cracking open nuts and flapping their wings.

Therefore, parrots can be thought of as the most metal animals on earth, so metal that they were born with grinding guitar riffs in their hearts and feet that curl into devil horns with ease.

One parrot named Waldo, with a little help from humans Blake Harrison of Pig Destroyer and Mark Sloan from The Index, is out to prove that parrots deserve more than crackers for their musical talent.

Waldo's the lead singer of the birdbrained grindcore band Hatebeak, who is about to release a new album called The Number Of The Beak after a six year hiatus.

Don't get your hopes up about seeing Hatebeak on tour anytime soon, because parrots are too shy to perform in front of an audience, and Hatebeak's head honcho hates ironic hipster hecklers!

-Via Dangerous Minds

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The bond between mother and child isn't just a human trait, but is common in all types of animals. This video shows that rabbits are absolutely in that category -when this mother bunny sees a snake trying to make a meal of her kit, she doesn't resign herself to be short one less baby, but instead hops into action and does what it takes to save her child.

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This bulldog is a fan of watching videos on the iPad. Who can blame him? But when the fun is over, he's not waiting around for his human to come over and restart the process. On the contrary: this guy has things under control. Even when a switcheroo is pulled and he finds himself watching himself as life imitates art, he's not one to be thrown. Via Daily Dot

Stowaways come in all shapes and sizes. French pilot Romain Jantot did his preflight checklist, but did not specifically scan for flying cats before he took a woman for a ride in his ultralight plane in Kourou, French Guiana. The cat was well hidden, but apparently woke up during the flight and slowly approached the pilot to ask something like, “What the hell is going on?” (Que se passe-t-il? Mettez-moi en bas à droite en ce moment! Es-tu fou?)

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Jantot’s face when he notices the cat is priceless. As is the cat’s. The plane immediately heads back to the runway to offload the kitty. Jantot said, “The cat is doing well, she is still our mascot.” But she probably won’t be napping in the wing again anytime soon. -via reddit

The Aye-aye

It's a jungle out there for everyone, particularly some of these endearing yet bizarre creatures of the wild. For example, the demonic looking (yet somehow still cute) Aye-aye, a lemur native to Madagascar shown above, is endangered because the local villagers there consider him bad luck. As a result, the poor things have adapted so that they hide up in the top of the trees there. Stay safe, little guy. Via The Richest

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Cats just love those enclosed spaces! Ignoramusky compiled a collection of clips featuring cats putting themselves into bags and boxes, against all odds, because that is what they want. -via Tastefully Offensive

Rocks shouldn't move, should they? YouTube user TurboMuffin filmed her corgi Turbo chillin' in the yard next to a rock ... which suddenly moved! Oh, that sneaky turtle!

Milo the Labrador Retriever has discovered the summer joy of watersliding. Whoosh! It's so much fun that after he reaches the bottom, he immediately runs up the stairs to do it again--pushing children out of the way so that he can get to the top faster!

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-via Tastefully Offensive

Now this is different! For the first time in 33 years, a cat has been given the "Hero Dog" award by a Los Angeles animal shelter. And wait till you hear what she did to win the award: she attacked a dog.

Last year, Tara the cat saw her owner, 6-year-old autistic boy named Jeremy Triantafilo, got attacked by a neighbor's dog. Tara body-slammed the dog and chased it away. The incident was caught on Triantafilo's home security video, which Miss C posted on Neatorama.

"We were so impressed by Tara's bravery and fast action that the selection committee decided that a cat this spectacular should be the National Hero Dog," said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Los Angeles, to WPVI.

As you'd expect, the word "Dog" on the trophy was scratched out and replaced with "Cat."