BB stars to go wild

It's tipped to be the Big Brother of the animal world - but just a little bit more civilised than the human version.

A new TV series will see a dolphin, a lion, an elephant, a dog, a horse, an orang-utan, a snake, a tiger, a chimpanzee and a whale vie for the title of world's favourite animal.

And each has its own story to tell. Pinky, an albino chimp with one blue eye, was rescued from certain death in wartorn Sierra Leone.

Kamaunyak the lioness set aside her predatory instincts to adopt a baby antelope at a reserve in Kenya.

And Kandula the Asian elephant is thriving after being born through artificial insemination in Washington DC. The animals will be among those featured in a ten-part series starting on Animal Planet onWednesday next week, and viewers in more than 155 countries will be able to vote for their favourite.

The satellite channel has narrowed down the world's animals to a shortlist of ten based on intensive research into viewer responses.

Once all the votes have been counted, the series will culminate in a World 's Favourite Animal results weekend in December, when the overall global champion will be revealed.

Supporters will be able to vote at www.animalplanet.co.uk/favourite.