幸せとは何だろうか。アラスカ州にいる、このヘラジカ一家がスプリンクラーで水遊びで暑さをしのぐ姿は幸せそのものだ。
アラスカのイーグルリバーに住むキャンディス・ヘルムさんはアンカレッジの「チャンネル2」ニュースに話した。お母さんヘラジカとその子供たちが5月31日の日曜日、ヘルムさんの家に姿を現したときは、喉がカラカラだったようだ。それもそのはず、アラスカは厳しい暑さに見舞われ、この州の5月の気温は一部で華氏90度（摂氏32度）以上になっていたのだ。
ヘルムさんは、「ただその辺を歩いて回ってるだけでしたが、本当に暑そうでした。なのでスプリンクラーを作動させたら喜んでいましたね」と語った。
本当に幸せそうだ。水遊びの動画ではお母さんヘラジカが流れる水の真下に立ち、2匹の子供たちはお母さんの周りをぐるぐる走って水しぶきを浴びている。
そう、おわかりのとおり、いよいよ夏だ。
Animal Moms And Babies
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Melbourne Zoo’s newest primate baby, a three week-old Colobus monkey, is held in the arms of her mother Clover, in Melbourne on June 29, 2011. Keepers have not been able to determine the sex of the newborn monkey which is pure white and won’t display any black markings until it’s several months old. Black and White Colobus Monkeys, native to Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Kenya, have seen their populations suffer from the fur trade during colonial times, but now the greatest threats to their survival are the loss of their habitat and the bushmeat trade, the large-scale hunting to supply meat to towns and cities. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A lynx born on June 10, 2011, is pictured with its mother on June 30, 2011, at the Amneville\'s zoo, eastern France. (CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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An unnamed baby baboon is seen in his mothers arms at the Hagenbeck Zoo on April 18, 2012 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Joern Pollex/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A Siberian tiger (Panthere tiger altaica) mother Niva carries one of her newborns at the Budapest Zoo and Botanic Garden in the Hungarian capital on July 4, 2011. Three eight-week-old Siberian tigers, Virgil, Thrax and Manu, were presented to the press for the first time with their health checkups and ID chips implanted by the chief doctor of the zoo. (ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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An eight-day old black-capped capuchin offspring holds on to its mother in an enclosure at the Serengeti animal park in Hodenhagen, western Germany, on May 14, 2012. (HOLGER HOLLEMANN/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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Lion mother Princess licks one of her white lion babies on July 17, 2012 in Kempten, southern Germany. Lion mother Princess gave birth to six white lion cubs on July 11, 2012 at the Circus Krone. (OBIAS KLEINSCHMIDT/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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Sydney Wildlife World\'s new baby joey koala \'Boonda\', clings to its mother \'Elle\' on June 28, 2011. Koalas are under threat due to a shortage of suitable habitat from mass land clearance, with Sydney Wildlife World launching KOALA HQ in July, to help raise much needed awareness regarding the importance of conserving one of Australia\'s most iconic and adored marsupials. (GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Sydney Wildlife World\'s new baby joey koala \'Boonda\' (C), clings to its mother \'Elle\' on June 28, 2011. Koalas are under threat due to a shortage of suitable habitat from mass land clearance, with Sydney Wildlife World launching KOALA HQ in July, to help raise much needed awareness regarding the importance of conserving one of Australia\'s most iconic and adored marsupials. (GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Baby \'Kipenzi\' sits in her mother \'Kriba\'s\' arms at the Taronga Zoo on January 25, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. The baby western lowland Gorilla, \'Kipenzi\' was born to mother \'Kriba\' and father \'Kibabu\' on January 15th. Western lowland Gorillas are on the critically endangered list. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A wild macaque baby monkey suckles milk from its mother (L) in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur on September 2, 2012. The long-tailed macaques can be found in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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Newly born twin baby orangutans cling to their mother at an enclosure at the Foundation for Sustainable Ecosystem in Medan, North Sumatra province on January 27, 2011. Orangutans are far more genetically diverse thatn thought, a finding that could help their survival, say scientists delivering their full DNA analysis of the critically endangered ape. The study, published January 27 in the science journal Nature, also reveals that the orangutan -- \'the man of the forest\' -- has hardly evolved over the past 15 million years, in sharp contrast to Homo sapiens and his closest cousin, the chimpanzee. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) born in captivity a month ago, hangs on the back of its mother at the zoo in Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, on March 7, 2011. It is the second time there is a birth of this species in captivity in Colombia. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A Titi Pigmeo (Cebuella Pygmaea) born in captivity ten days ago, hangs from the back of its mother at the Santa Fe zoo in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia on May 13, 2011. (RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A mother polar bear plays with one of her three cubs born in last November, at the Moscow Zoo, on March 22, 2012. (ANDREY SMIRNOV/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A one-month-old baby lion-tailed macaque clings to its mother at Berlin\'s Zoologischer Garten Zoo August 23, 2011. The lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) is an Old World monkey that is endemic to the Western Ghats of south India, it ranks among the rarest and most threatened primates. Some 3000-3500 of these animals live scattered over several areas in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Johti, 44-years old Asiatic Elephant (Elephas Maximus), plays with her newborn female baby at Ostrava\'s Zoo on May 31, 2011. The baby elephant was born on April 15. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A three-month-old Crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus) sits next to its mother in their enclosure on July 8, 2011 at the zoo in Mulhouse, northeastern France. Every year there are about 250 to 350 births at the Mulhouse zoo. Some young animals, once weaned, can be introduced in protected zones of their original region. If not, they go to other zoos to make up other families. Genetic mixing is necessary for the animals\' health and the survival of the species. (SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A three-month-old Pied tamarin (Saguinus Bicolor) is pictured with its mother in their enclosure on July 8, 2011 at the zoo in Mulhouse, northeastern France. Every year there are about 250 to 350 births at the Mulhouse zoo. Some young animals, once weaned, can be introduced in protected zones of their original region. If not, they go to other zoos to make up other families. Genetic mixing is necessary for the animals\' health and the survival of the species. (SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A three-month-old Crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus) sits next to its mother in their enclosure on July 8, 2011 at the zoo in Mulhouse, northeastern France. Every year there are about 250 to 350 births at the Mulhouse zoo. Some young animals, once weaned, can be introduced in protected zones of their original region. If not, they go to other zoos to make up other families. Genetic mixing is necessary for the animals\' health and the survival of the species. (SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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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 Images)
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A baby baboon only a few days old clings to its mother in an enclosure at the \'ZOOM\' Zoo in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany on March 12, 2012. (PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A Danta (Tapitus terrestris) born in captivity ten days ago, stands by its mother at the Santa Fe zoo in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia on May 13, 2011. (RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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\'Luk Chai\' (L) and his mother \'Thong Dee\' (R) arrive for Luk Chai\'s second birthday celebrations at Taronga Zoo in Sydney on July 4, 2011. The 830kg infant was the first Asian elephant to be born in Australia and is considered to be a milestone in the zoo\'s Asian Elephant Conservation Program. (TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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This photo taken on December 2, 2011 shows a lamb feeding on her mother as a flock of sheep graze along a road in the outskirts of Beijing. Agricultural authorities in China have recently begun testing sheep after media reports claimed the livestock had been fed an illegal additive meant to make their meat leaner, claiming that clenbuterol, commonly known as \'lean meat powder\' in China, was detected in live sheep in Lijin county, a major sheep meat production base in Shandong province. (GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A white tiger cub is pictured beside its mother Lisa on December 5, 2011 at the zoological park of Cerza in Hermival-les-Vaux, northern France. The three-year-old Lisa gave birth on October 8, 2011 to two white tigers belonging to a relatively rare species. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Two Pumas cubs and their mother called \'\'Xochitl\'\' remain at the National Zoo in Masaya department, Nicaragua on January 25, 2012. (ELMER MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A merino lamb lies next to its mother moments after its birth at the Educational and Reserach Station for Animal Breeding (Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt fuer Tierzucht und Tierhaltung, or LVAT) in Brandenburg state on January 27, 2012 in Gross Kreutz, Germany. Hundreds of lambs have been born at the LVAT in recent weeks in the midst of the station\'s lambing season. Many of the lambs will be sold just before Easter, when they will have grown to a weight of over 40kg, as lamb is the traditional German Easter meal. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Eighteen-day-old pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis) makes his first public appearance with its 29-year-old mother Dina at the Bratislava zoo on May 24, 2011. The father is four-year-old Paul brought from the Berlin at the age of one. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A two week-old Eastern Bongo calf stands beside her mother at Sydney\'s Taronga Zoo on April 13, 2012. Eastern (or Highlands) Bongos are critically endangered with as few as 75 remaining in small groups of 6 to 12 animals in their Kenyan upland range. Bongo are one of the largest species of antelope in the world and are recognised by their striking russet colour and large antlers which extend over their backs. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A baby giraffe calf named Mugambi explores alongside his mother Etosha the compound at the Hagenbeck Zoo on April 18, 2012 in Hamburg, Germany. The male calf was born on March 13 with a weight of 55 kilos. (Photo by Joern Pollex/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Baby polar bear Anori is accompanied by her mother Vilma as she explores her enclosure at the zoo in Wuppertal, western Germany, on April 19, 2012. Anori was born on January 4, 2012. Anori has the same father as world famous polar bear Knut, who died in 2011. (PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Bristol Zoo\'s baby gorilla Kukena holds onto his mother\'s arm as he ventures out of his enclosure at Bristol Zoo\'s Gorilla Island on May 4, 2012 in Bristol, England. The seven-month-old western lowland gorilla is starting to find his feet as he learns to walk having been born at the zoo in September. Kukena joins a family of gorillas at the zoo that are part of an international conservation breeding programme for the western lowland gorilla, which is a critically endangered species. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A ring-tailed lemur baby is carried by its mother through their enclosure at the Serengeti animal park in Hodenhagen, western Germany, on May 14, 2012. In the wild, the monkeys live in South America. (HOLGER HOLLEMANN/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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One-day-old giraffe Bashu is groomed by its mother Iwana at the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam, on 20 June 2012. (ED OUDENAARDEN/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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A baby beluga whale swims close to her 11 year old mother called Parara, at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama in suburban Tokyo on June 30, 2012. The one a half meters in length baby beluga was born at the aquarium on June 28. (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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Jumaane, a 4-month old male African baby white rhinos stays close to his mother, Shova in its enclosure at the Singapore Zoo on July 17, 2012. Singapore Zoo currently has eight of these majestic creatures in its collection, and with the most number of white rhinos bred in a single zoo in Southeast Asia. So far 13 baby white rhinos have been born here, with some have been sent to Indonesia, Australia, Thailand and South Korea as part of the Zoo’s ex-situ conservation efforts through its worldwide exchange programme .White rhinos are considered near threatened in the wild on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened species. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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Baby capuchin monkey Bonita sits on her mother and bites in a piece of paper at the zoo in Cologne, western Germany, on August 2, 2012. In the wild, capuchins live in Central and South America. (OLIVER BERG/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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Baby capuchin monkey Bonita sits on her mother at the zoo in Cologne, western Germany, on August 2, 2012. In the wild, capuchins live in Central and South America. (OLIVER BERG/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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Young leopards from Sri Lanka, born in the bioparc of Doue-la-Fontaine, play with their mother Iris on September 2, 2012. The Sri Lanka leopard is the largest feline in the island country that shares its name. Rare in captivity, it is threatened by the destruction of its habitat. Three young panthera live in the Zoo of Doue-La-Fontaine, Ciuttai, Cingha and Lanka are the children of Iris (6 years) and Bonhomme (12 years). (FRANK PERRY/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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A new born male dolphin and its mother Roxane swim on September 4, 2012, the day after the birth, at the Brugge Seapark. (KURT DESPLENTER/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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A five months of old male baby golden brushtail possum named Cooper (R) eats his meal next to his mother named Cascade at the Wild Life zoo in Sydney\'s central district on September 14, 2012. Joey\'s birth in April is the fourth succesful captive breeding program by Wild Life on the rare golden brushtail possum whose unique color is due to low levels of melanin in their skin and makes them highly visible to predators in the Australian wilds. (ROMEO GACAD/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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One month-old baby mandrill Aron clings to his mother Sandra in their cage at Berlin\'s Zoologischer Garten zoo on September 28, 2012. The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a primate of the Old World monkey (Cercopithecidae) family,closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the drill. (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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One month-old baby mandrill Aron clings to his mother Sandra in their cage at Berlin\'s Zoologischer Garten zoo on September 28, 2012. The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a primate of the Old World monkey (Cercopithecidae) family,closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the drill. (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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Goliath (L), a baby rhinoceros born on September 18, looks on in his pen next to his mother on October 4, 2012, in the zoological park of Peaugres, central France. Goliath is the first rhino to be born in a French zoo this year and the third in Europe. (PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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A mother toque macaque, which is a kind of monkey from Ceylon, holds her male baby at Zoo Berlin on October 23, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The baby monkey was born on August 23. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A mother toque macaque, which is a kind of monkey from Ceylon, holds her male baby at Zoo Berlin on October 23, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The baby monkey was born on August 23. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A baby hippopotamus born November 23 swims with its mother at Zoo Berlin on December 7, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The baby hippo is a boy and has two sisters. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A baby anteater (Myemecophaga tridactyla), born in captivity last December 6, is pictured next to its mother at Amneville Zoo, on December 20, 2012 in Amneville, eastern France. (JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Four-week-old Jamil (R) a greater one horned rhinoceros stands beside his mother, Behan, at an enclosure at Whipsnade Zoo on January 8, 2013. The rhino, one of Whipsnade\'s newest arrivals weighed in a 59 Kg at birth. The young rhino made its first pubic appearance, stepping out from his paddock for the first time ready to be counted in the annual zoo stocktake. (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A White-Cheeked Gibbon mother sits and her baby (R) look on at the Beijing Zoo on January 21, 2013. The zoo grounds were originally a Ming Dynasty imperial palace and finally opened to the public in 1908. The zoo\'s history states that during the WWII, most of the zoo\'s animals died of starvation with only 13 monkeys and one old emu surviving the war. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A drill monkey mother Kaduna holds her one week young Drill baby in the primate enclosure in the zoo of Munich Hellabrunn, southern Germany, on January 31, 2013. The Drill monkey baby was born in the zoo on January 24, 2013. The Drill\'s are in danger of extinction in Africa. (CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A six-week old and still nameless pygmy slow lori (R, Nycticebus pygmaeus) is seen with its mother Malaga (L) at the zoo in Szeged, Hungary, on January 24, 2013 during a presentation for the press. (CSABA SEGESVARI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A six-week old and still nameless pygmy slow lori (L, Nycticebus pygmaeus) is seen with its mother Malaga at the zoo in Szeged, Hungary, on January 24, 2013 during a presentation for the press. (CSABA SEGESVARI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A drill monkey mother Kaduna holds her one week young Drill baby in the primate enclosure in the zoo of Munich Hellabrunn, southern Germany, on January 31, 2013. The Drill monkey baby was born in the zoo on January 24, 2013. The Drill\'s are in danger of extinction in Africa. (CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A one week young Drill baby is held by its mother Kaduna in the primate enclosure in the zoo of Munich Hellabrunn, southern Germany, on January 31, 2013. The Drill monkey baby was born in the zoo on January 24, 2013. The Drill\'s are in danger of extinction in Africa. (CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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This photo taken on September 27, 2012 shows a 10-day-old baby elephant with its 31-year-old mother at Sarah Deu conservation response unit in Sampoiniet, Aceh Jaya. There are fewer than 3,000 Sumatran elephants remaining in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, marking a 50 percent drop in numbers since 1985. (CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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