In celebration of the Spring Solstice 2013 and in conjunction with the release of Dreamworks’ 3D animation The Croods – a family animation centered around the first ever pre historic road trip – a giant monument was built at Stonehenge at sunrise on Tuesday March 19, 2013. This marks the first time a modern structure has Ever been allowed on this historic site. (Photo by Flashforwardpublicity.com)

About a dozen dogs traded in their leashes for life vests Saturday for the chance to ride the waves at Jupiter beach as part of a canine surfing competition to raise money for an animal rescue group. Photo: Musso paddles in with Jengo. (Photo by Taylor Jones/The Palm Beach Post)

Bottlenose dolphins leap off the Southern California coast on January 30, 2012 near Dana Point, California. A coalition that includes Native American tribes, Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council is on the National Marine Fisheries Service for more protection for dolphins, whales, and other migrating marine animals from the use of sonar in training by the US Navy on the West Coast. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Zappa, a toothless 15-year-old Italian greyhound that looks surprisingly like Sid the Sloth from the animated movie Ice Age, is redefining dog beauty. Owners Sadie and Rosalie Millen, of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, say that Zappa started sticking her tongue out a few years ago when she lost her teeth.

At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.

Edinburgh-based physicist-turned-web-designer Tom Beddard was inspired by geometry to create these virtual Fabergé fractals – made up of self-repeating patterns, so that structures within the object resemble the whole. “Within a 3D fractal, there is infinite detail”, says Beddard, 37. “The closer you zoom in, the more structure is revealed”. Beddard rendered the fractals using WebGL, a technology used to animate 3D scenes in a browser.

A 500-pound lion and an 11-pound dog have formed an unlikely friendship, proving that cats and dogs really can get along. Bonedigger the lion and Milo the dachshund live together at Garold Wayne Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Okla., along with three other dogs. The puppies were introduced to Bonedigger in 2008 when he was just a 4-week-old cub.

Award-winning photographer Alex Bernasconi has captured thousands of images – from hiding hippos to wandering zebras – in his travels across Africa. His amazing work features in a new edition of his book Wild Africa. These amazing pictures create a snapshot of the life of some of the planet’s most spectacular animals and natural habitats. Photo: “Wild Africa”. (Photo by Alex Bernasconi)