Whether cute and cuddly, wild or exotic, animals seem to endlessly fascinate. Our furry, feathered friends provide us with constant surprises and hours of viral entertainment on an annual basis. And this year was no exception.
Here, TIME looks back over the past 12 months and presents a selection of underreported, astonishing and apparently-implausible animal images—from a bear in a hammock and swans in a boat, to a koala with a camera and a “happy” sloth. Images, we trust, that will maintain their ability to utterly and thoroughly surprise.
A baby sloth peeks out from behind a door on a floating house near Manaus, Brazil, May 20, 2014. Felipe Dana—APA black bear lies on a hammock at a residential back yard in Daytona Beach, Florida early evening on May 30, 2014. Rafael Torres—REUTERSA young giraffe named Marius was shot dead and autopsied in the presence of visitors to the gardens at Copenhagen Zoo, Feb. 9, 2014. KASPER PALSNOV—AFP/Getty ImagesA cat is placed in a transport bag during the World Cat Show in Prague, Oct. 25, 2014.Matej Divizna—Getty ImagesA dove released during an Angelus prayer conducted by Pope Francis, is attacked by a seagull in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican Jan. 26, 2014. ALESSANDRO BIANCHI—REUTERSA cat colored with green paint in Varna east of Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec. 05, 2014. Petar Petrov—NurPhoto/CorbisIn this photo provided to Reuters by the Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne, a 10-year-old pet goldfish is operated for the removal of a life-threatening head tumor, Sept. 11, 2014. HANDOUT—REUTERSA man grooms his mini poodle after competition at the 2014 China International Pet Show in Beijing, Nov. 17, 2014. WANG ZHAO—AFP/Getty ImagesA fisherman transports a dead whale shark after it was caught in fishermen's net, in Yangzhi county, Fujian province Aug. 1, 2014. REUTERSAn elephant immerses behind a window in the elephants' indoor pool at the Zoo in Leipzig, Germany, Aug. 5, 2014. Jens Meyer—APAn Arabian horse stands in front of a living room door. After a powerful storm swept through northern Germany in December, Stephanie Arndt brought the horse, named Nasar, inside and he now regularly stays in the house, Holt, Germany, Feb. 10, 2014.Carsten Rehder—ZUMAPRESS.comSwans sit in a boat after they were rounded up from Hamburg's lake Alster, Nov. 18, 2014.FABIAN BIMMER—REUTERSA Great White Shark in Mossel Bay, South AfricaAmanda BrewerA cormorant master prepares sea cormorants in Gifu, Japan, July 2, 2014.Chris McGrath—Getty ImagesTop view of a lion on the cage of a vehicle at the Safari Lion Zoo in Rancagua, Chile, Oct. 30, 2014.MARTIN BERNETTI—AFP/Getty ImagesA horse is rescued, in Jalandhar, in the northern Indian state of Punjab, March 5, 2014.APChickens are seen surrounded by plants covered by ash from Mount Sinabung near Sigarang-Garang village in Karo district, Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Jan. 12, 2014.RONI BINTANG—REUTERSA villager lifts his dog onto a truck to evacuate as Mount Sinabung spews ash at Pintu Besi village in Karo district, North Sumatra province Feb. 5, 2014. BEAWIHARTA—REUTERSA bird flies over the crater of mount Bromo after it was thrown by Hindu worshippers during the Yadnya Kasada Festival Aug. 12, 2014. Ulet Ifansasti—Getty ImagesMushon, 45, a Sumatran Orangoutang plays with a piece of bamboo and a tin can in the Tel Aviv Ramt Gan Zoological Center near Tel Aviv, Israel, March 23, 2014.Ariel Schalit—APA male red deer with antlers covered in bracken, walks through undergrowth in Richmond Park, London, Oct. 3, 2014. TOBY MELVILLE—REUTERSA stray dog from Sochi, Russia gets acclimated to its "doggie den" after arriving at the Washington Animal Rescue League shelter in Washington, D.C., March 27, 2014.Chip Somodevilla—Getty ImagesA Lipizzan horse is seen during a show of the Spanish Riding School from Vienna, Austria, at the Ziggo Dome arena in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Nov. 29, 2014. JEROEN JUMELET—EPAAn eight-month-old trained monkey sits on a can next to his owner, holding the leash as they wait for customers to perform to in a park in Islamabad, Pakistan, Jan. 31, 2014. Muhammed Muheisen—APA raccoon in the Fasanerie animal and plant park, Wiesbaden, Germany, June 21, 2014. FREDRIK VON ERICHSEN—EPAPiglets are carried over floodwaters by a resident as they return to their home after fleeing earlier due to a swollen river in suburban San Mateo, Rizal province, Philippines, Sept. 15, 2014. Aaron Favila—APA zoo staff member touches Mango, a 19-year-old Syrian brown bear, during preparations for his surgery at the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv, May 7, 2014. NIR ELIAS—REUTERSA panda named Li Li plays on a tree in the sunshine in a zoo in Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, China, Jan. 01, 2014. ROPI/ZUMAPRESSA donkey looks out of its shelter at a coal mine in Choa Saidan Shah in Punjab Province, Pakistan, May 5, 2014. REUTERSFisherman feed their otters as they catch fish in Narail, Bangladesh, March 11, 2014. MUNIR UZ ZAMAN—AFP/Getty ImagesA dolphin jumps as a large wave starts to roll, San Diego, Calif., Jan. 20, 2014.K.C. Alfred—ZUMAPRESSMustafa Mohamed, 5, reaches to trim a horse at his father's makeshift animal barber shop in Cairo, March 8, 2014. Maya Alleruzzo—APA leopard leaps across an under-construction structure near a furniture market in the Degumpur residential area as a bystander moves out of the way in Meerut, India, Feb. 23, 2014.AFP/Getty ImagesA crow on the roof of the Chancellery, Berlin, May 6, 2014. ODD ANDERSEN—AFP/Getty ImagesA thoroughbred racehorse is seen after morning workouts on the day of the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky, May 3, 2014. Bloomberg/ Getty ImagesA veterinary staff member at an orangutan conservation center conducts medical examinations on an orangutan found with air gun metal pellets embedded in his body in Sibolangit district, northern Sumatra, Indonesia, April 16, 2014.SUTANTA ADITYA—AFP/Getty ImagesFighters struggle with a wild horse during a traditional event in the Spanish village of Sabucedo, July 5, 2014. MIGUEL RIOPA—AFP/Getty ImagesA whale captures a pelican between its jaws, Monteray Bay, Calif., Nov. 23, 2014.KATE CUMMINGS—Barcroft Media /LandovMaria Torero, seen here with her son, cares for 175 cats with leukemia at her home in Lima, Peru, Aug. 15, 2014.
Martin Mejia—APAn Australian Koala, born with a damaged eye, sits atop a branch in its enclosure at Sydney Zoo, Sydney, April 3, 2014.David Gray—ReutersA monkey cowers as its trainer, Qi Defang, approaches during training for a circus in Suzhou, Anhui Province, China, Nov. 29, 2014. WILLIAM HONG—REUTERSA Bengal Tiger yawns in its enclosure in Shanghai Zoo, Shanghai, Nov. 18, 2014. JOHANNES EISELE—AFP/Getty ImagesOklahoma City police officer Sgt. Ryan Stark leans over the casket of his canine partner, K-9 Kye, following funeral services for the dog in Oklahoma City, Aug. 28, 2014. Sue Ogrocki—APJapanese Macaque monkeys soak in the warmth of mountain hotsprings at Jigokudani Monkey Park, Yamanouchi, Japan, Jan. 19, 2014. KIMIMASA MAYAMA—EPAIndian Border Security Force Dog Squad personnel take part in a march during Republic Day celebrations in Jammu. India, Jan. 26, 2014.ALOK PATHANIA—AFP/Getty Images35,000 walruses gather on shore near Point Lay, Alaska, Sept. 27, 2014. Corey Accardo—NOAA/APA cat tears through a government palace corridor as officials await the arrival of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Asuncion, Paraguay, March 20, 2014. Jorge Saenz—APDogs trot around at a luxury pet hotel in Singapore, Nov.4, 2014. ROSLAN RAHMAN—AFP/Getty ImagesA Chinese Crested dog takes a bath at a pet salon, Sao Paulo March 27, 2014. NACHO DOCE—REUTERSA small owl yawns as it sits in the snow in Ansung City, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, Dec. 4, 2014. KIM JAE-SUN—EPA
