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.
DIPPING and diving their way through this bumpy journey, these giraffe's duck for cover as they dodge multiple cables and wires .
WITH LUSH GREEN LANDSCAPES stretching out as far as the eye can see, you're in for a treat at these one of a kind treehouses .
Splashing around in the water, a mother otter and her son are tangled in a family feud .
TRYING their best to wriggle away, three adorable tiger cubs receive their health checks at Chester Zoo .
THIS may look like a dolphin through jumping hoops, but it is in fact nothing more than a clever 3D pencil drawing .
ARM extended and head flung back, this little chipmunk performs a loose-limbed yoga move .
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
With an abandoned tricycle sitting in an empty corridor, this derelict but once grand mansion could be the setting for The Shining .
A curious red squirrel takes a break from collecting nuts and tries her hand at photography .
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .