“The harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. Newborn pups weigh around 11 kilograms (24 lb) and are 80–85 centimetres (31–33 in) long. After birth, the mother only feeds that pup. During the 12 day nursing period, the mother does not eat, losing up to 3 kilograms (7 lb) per day. Harp seal milk contains up to 48% fat, so pups gain over 2.2 kilograms (4.9 lb) per day. During this time, the juvenile's “greycoat” grows in beneath the white neonatal coat, and it weighs 80 pounds (36 kg)”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A harp seal pup lies on an ice floe in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence March 24, 2008 in Charlottetown, Canada. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“A Cornish pasty, sometimes known as a pastie or British pasty in the United States, is a filled pastry case, associated in particular with Cornwall in Great Britain. It is made by placing the uncooked filling on a flat pastry circle, and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge at the side or top to form a seal. The result is a raised semicircular package”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Cornish students (R) Nina Brooke, 21 and (L) Bonnie Mably, 20, laugh as they pose for a photograph as they try a Cornish pasty that has been baked as part of the World Cornish Pasty Championships at The Eden Project on March 3, 2012 in St Austell, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A tattoo showing the Olympic rings is pictured on the leg of Mexico's Joana Jimenez Garcia during the Women Solo Technical Preliminaries, at the FINA World Championships, in Budapest, Hungary on June 17, 2022. (Photo by Marton Monus/Reuters)

Palestinian bedouin shepherds pull their lambs into the water to wash them, in Gaza City, on April 29, 2016. Every year before the beginning of the summer, shepherds wash their herds in the sea. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo)

This adorable and unlikely pair of best friends are inseperable. Kitty the kitten was abandoned and Buttons the Jack Russell was rejected by his mum. They eat, sleep and play together while they are being hand reared at our centre in Old Windsor, Berkshire. We would love for them to find a new home together when they are ready to leave our care in the near future.

The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

A pregnant woman poses on June 19, 2018 in Vertou, western France. France had an estimated population of 68.4 million by January 1, 2024, representing a further year-on-year increase of 0.3 percent, limited by a marked drop in the birth rate, the INSEE national statistics bureau of France reported on January 16, 2024. In 2023, 678,000 babies were born in France, 6.6 percent fewer than the previous year, the lowest number of births in any year since 1946. Over the same period, there were 631,000 deaths, down 6.5 percent on 2022, a year marked by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and episodes of extreme heat. (Photo by Loic Venance/AFP Photo)

Spectators pose for a selfie before the running of the Melbourne Cup at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, November 6, 2018. (Photo by Andy Brownbill/AP Photo)