CHILD SHEPHERDS OF THE SIMIEN MOUNTAINS

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.

Other great stories
ADORABLE SQUIRREL GETS READY FOR A SNOWBALL FIGHT

ROLLING up snow in its tiny paws, this little squirrel is looking for a snowball fight .

RARE BRONTE POEM FETCHES £92K AT AUCTION

A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .

ADORABLE SQUIRREL TRIES HER HAND AT PHOTOGRAPHY

A curious red squirrel takes a break from collecting nuts and tries her hand at photography .

THE SECRET LIFE OF SQUIRRELS

PICKING up a tiny tea-pot with its paws, a little red squirrel struggles to prepare its morning tea .

LAZY LEOPARD

Sprawled out on top of a log, this sleeping leopard takes a relaxing break from his daily routine .

PRAYING MANTIS MAKES AN UNLIKELY FRIEND

A brave praying mantis makes an unusual friend in an Oriental garden lizard .

DERELICT MANSION

With an abandoned tricycle sitting in an empty corridor, this derelict but once grand mansion could be the setting for The Shining .

BATTY ABOUT BATMAN - MAN SPENDS £65K ON COLLECTION

Kevin Silva, 52 from Indiana in the USA, has spent an estimated £65K ($100K) on Batman trinkets over the years, and even keeps his 2,500-item haul in his very own basement 'Bat Cave' .

CHEEKY FROG HITCHES A RIDE ON A SNAIL

A lazy tree frog, tired of hopping along a branch, chooses the slowest form of transport when it jumps on top of an unsuspecting snail .

THE JUMP

High up in the mountains and thousands of feet off the ground, a party of climbers were in for a shock as they came face to face with this frightening leap of faith .

FRIENDS REUNITED

IT'S the iconic TV show that influenced a whole generation in the 1990s .

ADORABLE DOLPHINS VISIT AUSTRALIAN BEACH FOR BREAKFAST

SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .