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.
LYING flat out on his back, this little meerkat makes the most of the English sunshine .
A little clownfish opens its mouth to reveal a blood sucking intruder living on its tongue .
An artist has transformed traditional Thanksgiving dinners into mini-masterpieces .
An Australian explorer has travelled the globe with a toy pig, known as Travel Piggy, in search of a missing cuddly companion .
SOARING through the air, a hungry white-tailed kite prepares to snatch a vole from his mother’s claws .
It's incredible to think anyone could live in such horrendous squalor - yet two men have been prosecuted for keeping their homes in such revolting conditions that it was no longer fit for their animals .
A quiet Himalayan mountain village springs to life for a colourful Buddhist festival designed to expel evil spirits and bring happiness .
SOARING at 112 miles per hour through the air, this petite blonde certainly lives up to her title as the fastest flying woman in the world .
FLOATING effortlessly on his back, this little otter laps up a rare glimmer of English spring sunshine .
A group of otters put on a show of aqua aerobics, as they raise their flippers perfectly in sync .