Four pandas, including a set of twins, were born in captivity within 14 hours of each other in China.

The births, Saturday and into Sunday, were all at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Centre in south-west Sichuan province, the largest facility for captive Panda's in the world with 71 panda's, according to China's official news station, Xinhua.

German authorities are searching for a killer in what is being called one of the worst cases of animal cruelty in the country's history.

Since last year, more than 40 pet bunny-rabbits have been killed in the night in their outdoor hutches. Horrified owners found their beloved pets decapitated and drained of all their blood in many cases. The killer takes the head and collects the blood, leading investigators to think that the animal killer is involved in the occult or Satanism.

An 18-year-old boy found by his father after being lost in the Amazon rain forest for six weeks died in his father's arms moments later.

Jonathan dos Santos Alves went missing after becoming separated from friends. One report said the boys were hunting, another said they were looking for waterfalls while camping on May 11, the last day they saw their friend alive.

The Brazilian government has inaugurated on Monday a condom factory that is aimed at providing livelihood to hundreds of Brazilian rubber tappers and at the same time help preserve the Amazon rain forest.

In a statement, Brazil's Health Ministry said the factory in Xapuri, in the northwestern part of the capital Sao Paulo, has the capacity to produce 100 million condoms a year.

After being chased by villagers and rescued atop a tree, a pregnant tigress was returned to the Sunderbans yesterday, a protected area along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, and one of the few remaining tiger habitats in India.

Atanu Raha, West Bengal's chief conservator of forest, said although the tigress received some injuries while being tranquilized and caught, she was treated and found fit to be released in the reserve area.