From a first look at the gigantic tree trunk you wouldn’t think much of it, but as you take a closer look your jaw will hit the floor. Artist Zheng Chunhui has created a piece called “Along The River During The Quinming Festival” and it is absolutely stunning. Take a closer look at the picture below.

Check out this 40-foot long tree trunk.
Are you serious?
This beautifully carved tree trunk was masterfully carved with precision and skill. It has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s longest wood carving.


The sculpture has over 550 hand carved people as well as all of the buildings and foliage.
The sculpture is a replica of a Chinese painting called “Along The River During The Quinming Festival” created by artist Zhang Zeduan during the Song Dynasty.
Created by Zheng Chunhui this mind-blowing piece of art took over four years to complete.
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Lizzie and Phantom are currently recovering in an outdoor koala ward within the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. They’re doing swimmingly; Phantom is both gaining weight and exploring his temporary habitat. 

It is now illegal for wild animals, such as lions, bears, elephants, and giraffes, to be used in circuses in the Netherlands! On Tuesday, September 15, 2015, a ban on wild animals in circuses officially went into effect in the Netherlands.

Wild animals, such as lions, bears, elephants, and giraffes, will no longer have to endure extensive travel or life in cramped, poorly-laid-out enclosures for the sole purpose of entertaining humans.

Credit: shutterstock

As has been shared before, life for an animal in captivity is not at glamorous as it might appear to be in the ring. Oftentimes, circus animals undergo rigorous training (causing mass amounts of stress) and/or abuse inflicted by trainers seeking to instill fear.

Wilde Dieren de Tent Uit, the association of Dutch animal welfare organizations, has spent the last nine years working towards the ban. The association is now offering to help circuses find new, species-appropriate homes for the animals.

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A heartbreaking photo has surfaced of a park ranger comforting a gorilla that had just lost its mother to poachers. In this photo, Patrick Karabaranga, a ranger at the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, sits with an orphaned mountain gorilla in the park's gorilla sanctuary.

The gorilla appears to be showing his appreciation for the sympathy by placing his hand on the ranger's leg.

Photo: Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images
This gorilla, like the other three orphans currently living in the sanctuary, were brought there after their parents were killed by poachers or as a result of illegal attempts by traffickers to smuggle them out of the park.

With more than 200 mountain gorillas, Virunga National Park accounts for about a quarter of the world's mountain gorilla population.


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