Animal Photos Of The Week

PHOTOS: The Week's Best In Animals
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Many animals joined their human counterparts in finding ways to beat the heat this week. From rhinos and lions to polar bears and black-footed penguins, it was a fight to escape the high temperatures.

Despite the heat, adorable images were captured of a baby Pygmy hippopotamus, a Caribbean Flamingo chick, and two baby snow leopards in Poland.

A wide-eyed baby slender loris visiting the vet, and a cat hugging a bearded dragon, might have been the adorable animal moments of the week.

What do you think is the cutest moment caught on camera?

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A baby Pygmy hippopotamus takes a bath in an enclosure at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on July 24, 2011. The baby hippo was born on June 22 at the zoo. (KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
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A baby Pygmy hippopotamus stands next to her mother in an enclosure at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on July 24, 2011. The baby hippo was born on June 22 at the zoo. (KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Poland Zoo Snow Leopards(03 of26)
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One of the two baby snow leopards Fala looks into the camera as they make their debut at the zoo in Warsaw, Poland, on Monday, July 18, 2011. The cats were rejected by their mother after they were born in May and are being fed and otherwise cared for by zoo employees. On Monday they took their first walk outdoors. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (credit:AP)
Poland Zoo Snow Leopards(04 of26)
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Two baby snow leopards Eter and Fala make their debut at the zoo in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, July 18, 2011. The cats were rejected by their mother after they were born in May and are being fed and otherwise cared for by zoo employees. On Monday they took their first walk outdoors. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (credit:AP)
Flamingo Chick(05 of26)
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A Caribbean Flamingo chick is cared for by one of its parents on a nest mound at Zoo Miami, Friday July 22, 2011 in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) (credit:AP)
Flamingo Chick(06 of26)
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A Caribbean Flamingo chick is cared for by one of its parents on a nest mound at Zoo Miami, Friday July 22, 2011 in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) (credit:AP)
Two Baby Loris Are Given A Health Check By Veterinary Staff At London Zoo(07 of26)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 21: An eight-month-old slender loris sleeps in the hands of a vet after her first health check by the veterinary team at London Zoo on July 21, 2011 in London, England. Two female baby slender lorises, who are yet to be named, were given health checks, their sex determined and micro-chipped. Slender Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine primates who are nocturnal and originate from India, Sri Lanka, and southeast Asia. London Zoo supports conservation of lorises in Sri Lanka, where populations are thought to be under threat from deforestation. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Two Baby Loris Are Given A Health Check By Veterinary Staff At London Zoo(08 of26)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 21: A five-month-old female slender loris waits to be given her first health check by the veterinary team at London Zoo on July 21, 2011 in London, England. Two female baby slender lorises, who are yet to be named, were given health checks, their sex determined and micro-chipped. Slender Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine primates who are nocturnal and originate from India, Sri Lanka, and southeast Asia. London Zoo supports conservation of lorises in Sri Lanka, where populations are thought to be under threat from deforestation. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)(09 of26)
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A Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) preens its feathers inside an enclosure at The Kamla Nehru Zoological Garden in Ahmedabad on July 24, 2011. This is the largest of the pelicans averaging 170-190 cm (67-75 inches) and it is the world's heaviest flying species. AFP PHOTO/Sam PANTHAKY (Photo credit should read SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)(10 of26)
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A Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) preens its feathers inside an enclosure at The Kamla Nehru Zoological Garden in Ahmedabad on July 24, 2011. This is the largest of the pelicans averaging 170-190 cm (67-75 inches) and it is the world's heaviest flying species. AFP PHOTO/Sam PANTHAKY (Photo credit should read SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A squirrel quenches its thirst from a fo(11 of26)
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A squirrel quenches its thirst from a fountain at a park in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2011. Residents of the Eastern and Central United States braced for another day of scorching heat Saturday as record-breaking temperatures forced Americans to seek refuge in swimming pools and air-conditioned malls. Newark, New Jersey saw an air temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius) Friday, the highest ever recorded in the city since records began there in 1931, and the hottest reported by the National Weather Service on the East Coast. At Dulles Airport near Washington, temperatures hit 105 degrees Fahrenheit (41 Celsius), the highest since the facility opened in 1962. AFP Photo/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A weaver bird makes its nest in Kathmand(12 of26)
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A weaver bird makes its nest in Kathmandu on July 22, 2011. Weavers, small passerine birds related to finches, are one of some 868 species of birds found in Nepal. The country's diverse topography and climate is home to more than ten percent of the world's bird species. AFP PHOTO/Prakash MATHEMA (Photo credit should read PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A dog lays on a sprinkler at a dog park(13 of26)
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A dog lays on a sprinkler at a dog park on the Upper East Side of New York City on July 21, 2011 as people and animals try different ways to beat the hot weather. Heat indexes are expected to reach near 105F degrees (40.5C) . AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
An Elephant drinks at a watering hole at(14 of26)
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An Elephant drinks at a watering hole at the Tsavo National Park on July 20, 2011, approximately 350 kilometres southeast of the capital Nairobi. Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki ignited today nearly five tonnes of ivory stockpiled in the country since being seized in Singapore nearly a decade ago destroying some 335 tusks and 42,553 pieces of ivory carvings at the Manyani wildlife rangers training institution in eastern Kenya. AFP PHOTO/ TONY KARUMBA (Photo credit should read TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Elephants socialise near a watering hole(15 of26)
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Elephants socialise near a watering hole at the Tsavo National Park on July 20, 2011, approximately 350 kilometres southeast of the capital Nairobi. Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki ignited today nearly five tonnes of ivory stockpiled in the country since being seized in Singapore nearly a decade ago destroying some 335 tusks and 42,553 pieces of ivory carvings at the Manyani wildlife rangers training institution in eastern Kenya. AFP PHOTO/ TONY KARUMBA (Photo credit should read TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
A keel billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfura(16 of26)
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A keel billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) is pictured at the zoo in Cali, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia, on July 13, 2011. AFP PHOTO / Luis ROBAYO (Photo credit should read LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Japan Weather(17 of26)
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Gogo the polar bear grabs an ice cube containing apples presented to him on a day that's known as the hottest day in the year in Japan at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka, western Japan, on Saturday July 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA (credit:AP)
National Zoo Panda(18 of26)
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FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007 file photo, Mei Xiang sleeps in a tree in the panda enclosure at the National Zoo in Washington. The National Zoo says that its female giant panda Mei Xiang is not pregnant and officials have ended their round-the-clock pregnancy watch. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, file) (credit:AP)
Heat Wave(19 of26)
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As temperatures reach three digits, Fitz and Jontu, the two Indian rhinos at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb., cool off Wednesday, July 20, 2011, in a mud pit. The heat "dome" sitting over much of the U.S. is caused by a huge area of high pressure that's trapping and compressing hot, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico beneath it and pushing the jetstream, and thus cooler, drier air, far northward into Canada. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) (credit:AP)
Midwest Heat(20 of26)
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This photo provided Wednesday, July 20, 2011 by the Chicago Zoological Society, shows Hudson, a 4-year-old polar bear, enjoying an ice block filled with a variety of fruits in the pool of his enclosure at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Ill. Much of the United States is experiencing miserable temperatures in the mid-90s to low 100s and heat-index levels well above 100 degrees. (AP Photo/Chicago Zoological Society, Jim Schulz) (credit:AP)
Midwest Heat(21 of26)
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This photo provided Wednesday, July 20, 2011 by the Chicago Zoological Society, shows Zenda, a 5-year-old African lion, keeping cool during the hot weather thanks to a large 200-pound block of ice at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Ill. Much of the United States is experiencing miserable temperatures in the mid-90s to low 100s and heat-index levels well above 100 degrees. (AP Photo/Chicago Zoological Society, Jim Schulz) (credit:AP)
Midwest Heat(22 of26)
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This photo provided Wednesday, July 20, 2011 by the Chicago Zoological Society, shows Aussie, a 26-year-old polar bear, keeping cool with an ice block filled with some of his favorite treats, including fruit and nuts, at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Ill. Much of the United States is experiencing miserable temperatures in the mid-90s to low 100s and heat-index levels well above 100 degrees. (AP Photo/Chicago Zoological Society, Jim Schulz) (credit:AP)
Midwest Heat(23 of26)
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Malee, a three-month old Asian elephant, plays with her ball after cooling off in her wading pool at the Oklahoma City Zoo in Oklahoma City, Monday, July 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) (credit:AP)
Bulgaria(24 of26)
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A group of black-footed penguins, donated by a German zoo two months ago, stand in the shade in their enclosure during a heat-wave at Sofia's Zoo, Saturday, July 16, 2011. The temperatures rose to 39 degrees Celsius (102 F) throughout the Balkan country Saturday. (AP Photo/Oleg Popov) (credit:AP)
Bulgaria(25 of26)
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Pelicans cool off during a heat-wave at Sofia's Zoo, Saturday, July 16, 2011. The temperatures rose to 39 degrees Celsius (102 F) throughout the Balkan country Saturday. (AP Photo/Oleg Popov) (credit:AP)
Midwest Heat(26 of26)
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Malee, a three-month old Asian elephant, cools off with a spray of water in her wading pool at the Oklahoma City Zoo in Oklahoma City, Monday, July 18, 2011. Much of the nation is in the grip of a broiling heat wave. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) (credit:AP)

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