There's trouble in Thailand, mayhem in Mumbai and the economy is so topsy-turvy that you or I could buy Woolworths for £1. There is only one thing for it: escape into the world of oblivious animals.

At the cracking clip-compiling site wimp.com, there are a pair of pandas who have no idea that house prices have fallen by an average of £25,000 and don't give a damn about the administrative nightmare resulting from the VAT decrease. No, all these brazen bears are interested in is escaping from the zoo. But how will they do it? Why, they will work together, of course. One of the fluff-balls gives the other a boost (seriously) and watches as his pal escapes through a high hole in the enclosure. A genius plan until he realises that he has been hoodwinked: there's no one left behind to give him a boost. You can watch him on tip-toe staring forlornly out of the hole after his mate at wimp.com/bigescape.

The bears might be brainy, but the cats at wimp.com/nicecats are contortionists. Set to the stonking soundtrack of St Elmo's Fire, an animal-lover has edited together clips of a cat doing a handstand and then walking across the room on two paws, a cat executing somersaults and a cat capable of hanging from the ceiling rafters.

But wait, there's more. How about the kitty who plays ping-pong, the one that swings about on a ceiling fan and the shape-shifter that fits through the one-inch gap under a door. Are you more of a dog person? How do you feel about cross-breeds? At tinyurl.com/5a5b34 you can meet a panda-dog. Columbo is half puppy, half bear... at least that's how it looks. He's really a black and white dog that had an unsightly eye infection. His beautician owner decided to disguise the optical irregularity by dying the reddened fur around his eyes black. Now he is... Panda Dog!

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