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.
Most people bend over backwards to keep children entertained, but this baboon show us how it’s done .
BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .
A middle spotted woodpecker swoops into her nest and feeds her young in a forest in Trentino, Italy .
A PENSIONER was left with a fractured jaw after being beaten and robbed outside his home in Birmingham last weekend .
LOCATIONS bursting with vibrant greens and chestnut browns, these photographs capture the peaceful English countryside in all its glory .
SITTING quietly at the edge of the lake, these two baby bears watch and learn as the adults hunt for fish .
DIVING down at a speed of 75mph, this is the moment a hungry osprey caught his prey .
With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .
From giant mountains to vast deserts, an American photographer spent a year capturing the diverse and beautiful landscape of the United States .
COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .
STARING open-mouthed into the camera, this shocked fish looks out of place in the middle of its angry friends .
WITH the phosphorescent blobs and mesmerising patterns, these spectacular images may look like the hall marks of an enchanted forest but it is in fact the scene of thousands of dancing FIREFLIES .