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.
Animal rescue volunteers have told how a cat riddled with cancer was forced to ripped off its own ears after it was abandoned by its owners .
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
SQUEEZING their furry faces through a hole in a tree, a trio of curious baby squirrels leave their nest for the first time to explore their surroundings .
Is your cat bored? Do his usual playthings simply not do it for him anymore? Not to worry - there's an app for that .
MOUTH OPEN wide, this little stoat appears to be in mid-song as he belts out a tune for his onlookers .
Some will get up close and personal with Mother Nature’s deadliest animals to get the perfect shot, posing the question, what lengths will a photographer go to for that all important picture? But in this case, the question should be what depths .
WEARING tiny Christmas accessories, these adorable babies get into the spirit of the season .
An adorable orangutan named Pongo celebrates his first birthday at Zoo Atlanta, Georgia, America .
A BLIND man was battered with a brick in a sickening attack by two thugs .
AN ARRAY of colours, from pinks to blues and oranges, fill the night sky to create an amazing collection of interstellar patterns .
An Indonesian farmer is dragged through muddy water as he clings to the tails of two charging cows .
