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..
BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .
A German photographer travelled around Africa where he met and photographed members of tribes in a series of intimate portraits .
BLOWING bubbles underwater, this adorable polar bear slides into his tank for a playful dip .
A photographer from the United Arab Emirates travelled to Pakistan where he captured the lives of local people in a series of expressive portraits .
WITH his spiked ears and yellow and blue body, a colourful monkey bears an uncanny resemblance to Marvel Comics’ Wolverine .
An osprey soars through the air at 30 miles per hour before swooping down to catch its prey from a lake .
ROLLING across a 65-metre-high viaduct in the Alps, the red carriages of the Bernina Express add a splash of colour to the spectacular snow-covered Swiss surroundings .
A cheeky gorilla sticks her tongue out and plays up for the camera at Bronx Zoo .
An artist has transformed traditional Thanksgiving dinners into mini-masterpieces .
Like a scene from a fairytale, THOUSANDS of fireflies create an enchanting glow as they dance in a forest .