elephants

Baby elephants romping around in the pool? Sign me up! These two little guys, Baylor and Tupelo, have their very own pool at the Houston Zoo. The pool only lasts about five uses before it has to be replaced. This might have something to do with the fact that Baylor weighs about 1100 pounds and Tupelo weighs a little more than 600 pounds.

She's no circus elephant, but this cute little face just might rival Robert Pattinson's! The female Asian elephant calf was born just a few days ago at the Chester Zoo in northwest England. She doesn't have a name just yet . . . check out more photos of her cute mug, and then tell me what you think she should be called!

What a Winter wonderland! This elephant enjoys a game of catch . . . with himself. He enjoyed making snowballs to toss at his head, in his mouth, and all over the place. Looks like he's having a blast all alone, no need for an elephant pal here at the Berlin Zoo.

While I'm not sure if he enjoys it more than some cats or dogs we've seen, but check it out for yourself and read more

Ladies and gentlemen! Meet Tai, the 8,800-pound elephant who will play Rosie and share the screen with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon in Water For Elephants.

The film, which is based on a Great Depression-era story by author Sara Gruen, will follow a veterinary student who leaves his schooling after his parents are killed and instead takes up with the circus. Tai hails from the Have Trunk Will Travel conservation and will play the stubborn elephant who seems untrainable until Pattinson's character wins her over. The HTWT website says Tai is "very intelligent and loves to take naps and play". She also "likes people and every other elephant she sees".

One thing is for certain — sharing the screen with Pattinson is no peanuts part!

Photo courtesy of Have Trunk Will Travel

Earlier this month, a cute elephant made her 300-pound, splashy debut in Melbourne. She was referred to as Baby, which I took to be her permanent name. Not quite so.

On the right, you'll see the tiny (pachy-wise) creature — she just had her official naming ceremony by Buddhist Monks! The final moniker for the lil Asian Elephant is Mali, translating to Jasmine, and reflects her Thai lineage as mom Dokkoon arrived in Australia via Thailand in Nov. 2006.

From the looks of it, Mali still loves the water so check out pics and read more

Come on in, the water's fine. Born on Jan. 16, this lil Asian Elephant made her public debut at the Melbourne Zoo today. Named "Baby," she's less babylike now at 300 lbs. but still nowhere near the 6,000-plus lbs. of her mom. Only the second elephant to be born in Australia — and the first from artificial insemination — no wonder she's welcomed by a name that magnifies her miraculous birth.

In between her sloshy time, she gets sandy and a swift kick from Mama, oops! See all the pictures when you read more

Collective aww. Only two days old here and Jamuna Toni already knows how to show his love! The lil elephant busted onto the scene last week with a series of hilarious shots — like trying to snag the keeper's keys with his snout and blowing air at the camera — and I'm sensing a future star here.

After all, it was the cutie elephant named Luk Chai who captured this year's biggest zoo ham title (in our Best of 2009 poll), and it looks like Munich's Hellabrunn Zoo has a posing handful on their .... errr, hands?

See more pictures of Jamuna Toni and his nosy nose when you read more

Maybe it's the size of the soccer ball or simply Luk Chai's cuteness on his own, but are you really surprised that to see that this elephant won for the best zoo photos in 2009? He's hammin' it up for the camera with his ginormous toy to make him the best, and likely also one of the biggest, zoo posers this year! Born back in July at Sydney's Taronga Zoo, he may not be a star athlete but is a shining star in my eyes in the looks department.

Check out his kicking and climbing skills, along with bonus rope work and flower snacks, when you read more