A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post. These adorable photographs of two playful bear cubs and their watchful mum were captured by American nature photographer D. Robert Franz, 56, on a visit to Lake Clark National Park, Alaska. 'What we see in these photographs is the interaction between the mother brown bear and her two cubs,' says D. Robert, of Cody, Wyoming.
Raising his arms above his head and lying flat on his back, a polar bear stretches as he sprawls out across the ice .
THE CRAZE for mimicking the video game Streetfighter has spread to the streets of London .
SWIMMING in unison, millions of silverside fish dwarf the divers .
WITH SNOW COVERING the ground around them, these two polar bears play fight .
COURAGEOUS climbers descend 400 metres as they manoeuvre their way through thick walls of ice .
PERCHING on top of a gate, this young barn swallow waits patiently for his mum to return with dinner .
COULD this be the most distastrous wedding cake fail EVER? Most brides opt for a traditional tiered white wedding cake decorated with delicate pink roses and lace for their big day .
SEA LIFE and greenery in one shot show nature at its very best .
VENTURING into the ocean with self-made spears and nets, the fishermen of Zanzibar put their lives on the line when they catch food for their families .
Jostling their quills into the noses of some unlucky cubs, this is the moment two feisty porcupines ALMOST defeat a pride of seven lions .
In the calm waters of Greenland, gigantic icebergs dwarf everything around them .