BEAR CUBS AND DOTING MUM

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.

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FREEZING MANATEES STRUGGLE TO STAY WARM

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N-ICE DAY FOR A CLIMB

CLINGING onto nothing but ice, this brave climber reaches heights of 1000 FEET as he scales frozen solid waterfalls .

CHERNOBYL - 28 YEARS ON

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NINJA RED SQUIRREL

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SUNBATHING OTTER

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SEXY TRAFFIC GIRLS OF NORTH KOREA

WITH their robotic movements and pristine uniforms, these are the sexy traffic girls of North Korea that are becoming iconic figures in the secretive state .

POLAR BEAR PLAY

WITH SNOW COVERING the ground around them, these two polar bears play fight .

STUNNING ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

LOCATIONS bursting with vibrant greens and chestnut browns, these photographs capture the peaceful English countryside in all its glory .

INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF INDIANS

An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS BROUGHT TO LIFE

BREATHING life back into old photographs, these black and white images are transformed by colour .

ADORABLE ORANGUTAN TURNS ONE

An adorable orangutan named Pongo celebrates his first birthday at Zoo Atlanta, Georgia, America .