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.

Other great stories
STUNNING SUMATRAN TIGER CAUSES A SPLASH

BURSTING from the water, a beautiful but deadly Sumatran tiger jumps for food in an Indonesian zoo .

CHEEKY BABY GORILLA

THIS cheeky gorilla tries his best to wriggle free from his mum .

THE UNEXPECTED FRIENDLY GIANT

A baby sperm whale assumed the role of a friendly giant when faced with two awestruck divers .

SWIMMING WITH WHALE SHARKS

A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .

HYPER-REALISTIC DINNER IS ACTUALLY DESSERT

From a platter of finger licking chicken wings to a bowl of Chinese noodle soup, these foodie snaps are enough to make your savoury saliva glands drool .

SHOCKING CCTV OF WOMEN AND CHILD HIT AND RUN

THIS astonishing film shows the moment a hit-and-run driver ploughed into a woman and a toddler on a Coventry street .

FISH AND BIRD TANGO

A trout manages to escape the jaws of a hungry cormorant - only to find itself back inside the bird's long beak .

FIGHT CUB

JUMPING and bouncing off one another, these young cheetahs enjoy some harmless fun .

CHEEKY CHIPMUNK

A chipmunk, with his cheeks full to bursting, has no intention of leaving with an empty stomach .

ADORABLE OWL EMBRACES THE 'RUNNING MAN' CHALLENGE

SKIPPING on the spot, an adorable little owl embraces the 'running man' challenge .

SNOWY SQUIRRELS PLAY A GAME OF BALL

Throwing their arms up in the air, these energetic squirrels play a game of ball with a walnut .

ABANDONED CARE HOME LIES FORGOTTEN

BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .