We all have our favorite animals, but some species need our help more than others. Are you ready to lend a paw?

Tiger
It's hard to imagine a more iconic and recognizable species than the tiger. They are top predators, keeping the food chain balanced. Tigers are famous for their strength and power, reportedly covering up to 10 meters in a single horizontal leap. Yet only 3,200 tigers may be left in the wild, and their original roaming areas have decreased by 40 percent in the past ten years.

Deforestation and poaching are the chief culprits behind the tigers becoming endangered mammals. You can help by contributing to the Save the Tiger fund, a program of the National Fish and Wildlife Federation.

Magellanic Penguin
Penguins: Their social nature and waddling gait endears them to animal lovers worldwide. Unfortunately, 12 of the 17 penguin species are experiencing population declines. Why? Magellanic penguins, which live in South American waters, have faced a host of obstacles -- first, oil spills, and more recently, a loss of the fish they eat due to rising temperatures of ocean water.

Defenders of Wildlife sponsors a program which enables you to adopt a penguin, with funds going towards programs to help this endangered species.

Kittens! Puppies! So adorable, but sadly there are far more sweet baby pets than homes to take them. One of the kindest, and greenest, things you can do as a pet owner is to spay or neuter your four-footed friends.

To encourage this responsible owner behavior, The Humane Society of the United States' and Humane Society International sponsor Spay Day. It's an annual event to encourage people to spay or neuter your pet, as well as feral cats.

The official Spay Day is the last Tuesday of February, and the 16th annual Spay Day will be Feb. 23, 2010. To generate awareness of the problem, and to raise funds to support spaying programs, HSUS and HSI are hosting the Spay Day Online Pet Photo Contest, with VISA and Zazzle as corporate partners.

With Valentine's Day coming up, creative green minds are working overtime looking for eco-friendly gifts for your sweetie. Vegan chocolate is one way to go. Garden "bon bons" are another (inedible but still delightful) way!

Garden Bon Bons are beautifully (and we presume sustainably) packaged handmade seed ball "truffles" that look like gourmet candy. But don't try to eat them, unless you're a bird, because they're made of seeds, compost and clay.

Inspired by "garden bombs" used by guerilla gardeners these pretty gardening gifts come in two "flavors:" Herbal Tea or Italian Herb. Both are very affordably priced at $14.95 and available on the Garden Bon Bons etsy site.

After nearly two years of dire predictions about the imminent extinction of honey bees, it appears that whatever was causing the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) may be easing up.

According to a Journal of Apicultural Research survey of beekeepers, reported in the New York Times, beekeeping operations are reporting fewer lost colonies that do not have dead bees in or around the hive. An "empty" hive is the primary indicator of CCD.

Last winter the rate of colonies lost to CCD was 26%, down from 38% and 36%, respectively, during the previous two seasons. Even more heartening, only 36% reported colonies with symptoms of CCD, down from a high of 60% three winters ago.

Are you thinking about Valentine's Day yet? It's just around the corner! Time to get your list of love letter recipients together and send some cards that will make their hearts melt.

Back in "the olden days" people would make paper Valentines and deliver them by hand. But in this paper-free, all online communication society, obviously an electronic card is the modern -- not to mention resource-conserving -- way to go.

What? You think an e-Valentine is too cold to touch someone in a deeply emotional way? Clearly you haven't seen the animal conservation Valentine's Day e-cards from World Wildlife Fund. Some of them are even animated.

Horses are far from exotic -- you see them everywhere. Policemen ride them. They work on farms. Maybe you even ride them recreationally. But most of us never think about what happens to horses when they get old, or their owners can't afford to care for them. I know I don't.

Then I got an alert from the Humane Society of the U.S. about horses being trucked to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. For food ... for humans!. Even more distressingly, they are being transported to the slaughterhouses in squalid, unregulated, inhumane conditions.

Eating horses may be a cultural issue, but making them suffer first is inexcusable.

It's been one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record on the East Coast, but here in San Francisco we've been lucky enough to escape with a few frigid, rainy days.

Not everyone appreciates our temperate weather. Some residents probably wish we'd get more of the white stuff, including the three polar bears who live at the San Francisco Zoo.

Two of the bears, Pike (pronounced PEE-KA), and Andy, (who is the star of the popular children's book "Andy Bear,") got a special holiday surprise the week before Christmas, courtesy of the San Francisco Ice Company: snow!

There is something incredibly aware about elephants. No, they can't talk, but they have well documented social behaviors like mourning their dead and showing joy when they greet each other. You can just tell that they have feelings -- look at them! Those eyes! The way they hug each other with their trunks!

This obvious sensitivity to their surroundings and companions makes it even more incomprehensible that anyone can be abusive to these gentle giants.

PETA (yes, them again, already) has a well-known and aggressive campaign targeting Ringling Brother's circus that links to some terribly depressing videos of jerks in uniforms hitting elephants with sticks with hooks on them. Probably worse things happen, but it made the elephants look so sad that I couldn't bear to watch any more of it.

Sometimes I feel like every other post I write is about PETA -- and there's a good reason for that. Those vegan wacktivists are busy, and when they pull a stunt, they make sure it gets pushed out with a newsworthy angle.

I'd forgotten half of PETA's antics in 2009. Lucky thing they released this handy video round up of their greatest hits! First thing you'll notice: it's 10 minutes long. See? Busy!

Second thing? They convince a huge number of people, celebrity and "regular folk" to take off their clothes in the name of animal-rights. Paul McCartney, Jenna Jameson, and "Lettuce Ladies."

How many times have you walked or driven past a vacant city lot and wished that someone would do something with that space?

In some case, Guerrilla Gardeners are taking action themselves, transforming neglected land into community parks, flower patches or urban vegetable gardens.

Richard Reynolds, the subject of the video above, is the author of "On Guerrilla Gardening" a book about this form of green direct action, which is almost 400 years old and practiced in more than 30 countries.

If you're a sci-fi fan you've probably read one or five of the books in the the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy. (Yes, a five book trilogy -- Adams was English and bad at math.)

One of the most important plot points is about dolphins being the second most intelligent species on the Earth, just ahead of humans. (Yes, ahead of us, lab mice are the most intelligent ... oh, just read the books!)

Adams came up with this idea in the '80s, but it's taken scientists until 2010 to reach to the same conclusion: Dolphins are very, very smart; possibly even smarter than Great Apes!

There are plenty of people out there with flip video cameras and a lack of respect for the inherent dignity of their pets, as evidenced by the legions of beleaguered cats on YouTube who do not like to wear Santa hats!

This video of an irritated Persian cat channeling the spirit of Dr. Seuss's Grinch has the virtue of leveraging the cat's natural air of irritation. Also, it's just hilarious.

In the spirit of the season, sit back, sip some eggnog, and sing along, "...You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch..." Then go make a donation to one of these animal rescue organizations that help cats in need:

Many kids -- including the grownup kind -- put a puppy a the top of their Christmas gift wishlist. Most organizations actually advise you to hold off getting a pet during this busy time of year.

If you're determined to do the dog with a red bow under the tree route, definitely consider adopting a shelter or rescue dog because it's the right thing to do. These animals need homes, it's better for the planet, and it goes with the giving spirit of the season.

For those of you welcoming a pet, either to stay or just visiting with family or friends, the good folks at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have a great list of holiday animal safety tips to help you pet-proof your home, including:

A calendar filled with hot guys and baby animals -- what better way to start the weekend? Factor in that a portion of the proceeds benefits four different animal rescue organizations and I think we all just found the perfect holiday gift!

Hot Guys and Baby Animals is a new company created by two LA-based women, Audrey Khuner and Carolyn Newman. They were tired of calenders filled with pneumatic babes posed on gas guzzlers. Rather than complain, they made one filled with their favorite things: dudes, bunnies and puppies. And at least one crazy-adorable kitten.

All of the animals in the calendar are rescues, and they will steal your heart. Audrey and Carolyn don't say if the the guys are available, but they sure seem open to the attention -- no shirt, no shoes, no problem!

You may want to cop out and get an iTunes gift card for the animal-lover on your list, but don't give up, there are so many options!

For the wild-eyed vegan activist, you have the entire PETA cruelty-free catalog. Highlights include the "Hug me, don't club me" Save the Seals t-shirts, vegan chocolate, and everyone's favorite, the "Help a Chicken" gift pack, which lets you donate $15 on behalf of an ethical-chicken-killing-advocate friend.

Is there someone on your list who tells you not to buy her anything, because she has everything? Believe her, and make a donation to Heifer International in her name. The organization gives livestock and husbandry training as a sustainable way to help people escape poverty. Your friend may not need a goat, but there is village in China that will be glad to accept it on her behalf!