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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GATEWAY TO THE UNDERWORLD

SPURTING water 20ft into the air, this is one well you wouldn't want to dip your bucket into .

STUNNING WINTER PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HIGHEST RAILWAY IN THE ALPS

ROLLING across a 65-metre-high viaduct in the Alps, the red carriages of the Bernina Express add a splash of colour to the spectacular snow-covered Swiss surroundings .

COLOURFUL FROGS PRACTICE THEIR FROG CRAWL

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AMAZING 3D DRAWINGS

THIS may look like a dolphin through jumping hoops, but it is in fact nothing more than a clever 3D pencil drawing .

HIS BAIT WAS SEALED

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UNLIKELY PLAYMATES: BRAVE CHICKS PLAY WITH A PYTHON

A pair of chicks bravely decided to befriend a python, despite being the snake's favourite choice of food .

AURORA BOREALIS ILLUMINATES LAPLAND

From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .

WHITE TAILED EAGLES FIGHT FOR FOOD

The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .

ASTOUNDING ASTRONOMICAL IMAGES TAKEN IN GARDEN

AN ARRAY of colours, from pinks to blues and oranges, fill the night sky to create an amazing collection of interstellar patterns .

MAGNIFICENT SNOWY OWL

An elegant snowy owl spreads her wings and glides effortlessly above the snow covered field .

ENDANGERED GORILLA BORN AT TWYCROSS ZOO

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ROAD-KILL CUDDLY TOYS

With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .