CHILD SHEPHERDS OF THE SIMIEN MOUNTAINS

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.

Other great stories
ABANDONED FARM HOUSE LEFT TO ROT

With a dust covered coat hung from a wardrobe door and a pair of glasses left on a shelf, a remote farmhouse lies abandoned in the Welsh countryside .

STUNNING ICEBERGS

In the calm waters of Greenland, gigantic icebergs dwarf everything around them .

SLEEPING IN THE MOONLIGHT

With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .

ABANDONED TEXTILE MILL

HUNDREDS of colour coordinated yarns lie abandoned in this once thriving textile mill .

LAST MILITARY HOSPITAL TIME CAPSULE

INSIDE Britain's last Naval hospital where scurvy was cured looks like an NHS time capsule .

SEXY TRAFFIC GIRLS OF NORTH KOREA

WITH their robotic movements and pristine uniforms, these are the sexy traffic girls of North Korea that are becoming iconic figures in the secretive state .

SHOP BRANDED RACIST FOR ‘ZIP UP IMMIGRANT’ AD

A SHOCKING cartoon of a black man carrying bags saying‘’zippadydoohdah zip-up immigrant bags’ has appeared in a shop window and is being investigated by police .

BEAUTIFUL HUMMINGBIRDS SHOW OFF THEIR COLOURS

From vibrant blues to dazzling oranges, these eye catching hummingbirds proudly show off their impressive colours .

ANIMAL WHISPERER TAMES SILKY SHARK

A diving guide leaves a shark completely docile and balanced in the palm of his hand .

MILLIONS OF LUMINOUS FISH DWARF DIVERS

SWIMMING in unison, millions of silverside fish dwarf the divers .

GOING IN FOR THE GILL

NEVER mind being careful not to choke on your food, this mother bird has a bigger challenge on her hands, as her ravenous offspring impatiently launches its head down into her stomach .

EASTER ISLAND REPLICA STATUES DESTROYED IN SEA FALL

A project to create an underwater tribute to the stone Moai statues of Easter Island ended in disaster when 15 replica structures were destroyed after toppling from a boat and into the sea .