CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia. Away from modern civilization, children living in the Simien Mountains spend their gruelling days herding, or carrying, animals and walking miles through the rocky terrain. From the age of five these children are responsible for goats and sheep in the highlands and when they do rest, the boys and girls are schooled in classrooms made from mud, rocks and wood. German photographer Mario Gerth trekked 3,000 metres up the Ethiopian mountain range to visit this group of Tigray people and their hardy children and witness their unorthodox lifestyle.
A pair of chicks bravely decided to befriend a python, despite being the snake's favourite choice of food .
AN EXERCISING turtle and an ice-skating chick are hardly everyday exploits in the animal community .
NOT YOUR everyday selfie, this plucky diver poses with some of the scariest predators in the ocean .
TUGGING at his exhausted mum's ears, a beautiful baby orangutan refuses to settle for a nap as he begins a game of peek-a-boo .
A SPECTACULAR array of stars fills the night sky as they soar over this active volcano .
Jostling their quills into the noses of some unlucky cubs, this is the moment two feisty porcupines ALMOST defeat a pride of seven lions .
DIVING boffins fired harpoons into 30-foot-long whale sharks in a bid to put the sea-beasts on Google Maps .
BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
A panic stricken kitten that got her head stuck in a car tyre has been freed by quick thinking RSPCA staff .
A hungry hippo is seconds away from catching a bird in its gigantic jaws .
