Animal rescue volunteers have told how a cat riddled with cancer was forced to ripped off its own ears after it was abandoned by its owners. Poor Victoria was so ravaged by cancer that she had torn off her own ears by the time she was discovered wandering the streets by a passer-by distraught at her obvious plight. At first it was thought she had been mauled by a dog but on closer inspection by a vet it became clear the pain of the tumours had been so severe the little black and white cat had made a desperate bid to escape the agony. Victoria was found walking the streets of Newent, Gloucs., and handed over to charity workers at the New Start Cat Rescue Centre who took her in and paid for an operation on her ears. It is costing them thousands of pounds to rehabilitate her but volunteers there say the affectionate feline deserves a new chance at life..
Splashing around in the water, a mother otter and her son are tangled in a family feud .
An Italian photographer travelled to Chile where he visited several star-gazing sites, home to some of the world's most advanced telescopes, located in the spectacular setting of the Atacama desert .
A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .
SOARING through the air, this is the moment a hungry tawny owl arrives home with dinner .
BALANCING 30 metres above ground, these slackliners take the expression of living dangerously one step further, by tightrope walking NAKED .
MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .
NOT YOUR everyday selfie, this plucky diver poses with some of the scariest predators in the ocean .
A SPECTACULAR array of stars fills the night sky as they soar over this active volcano .
STOOD side by side next to a busy road, these buildings were once bustling with life .
BURSTING from the water, a beautiful but deadly Sumatran tiger jumps for food in an Indonesian zoo .
PICKING up a tiny tea-pot with its paws, a little red squirrel struggles to prepare its morning tea .
HUDDLING under a leaf, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls take shelter from the rain .