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.
FINALLY catching a meal, a pair of great white egrets fight over their dinner .
PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .
PERCHED on a branch, these two frogs hold hands as they look into the camera .
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .
Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .
A trio of ants are locked in a tug of war over a fly as they pull the bug by its legs .
Like a scene from a fairytale, THOUSANDS of fireflies create an enchanting glow as they dance in a forest .
VENTURING into the ocean with self-made spears and nets, the fishermen of Zanzibar put their lives on the line when they catch food for their families .
MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .
These adorable pictures show the moment two cuddly red panda cubs take their first look at the outside world and are weighed for the very first time .
A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .
A DETERMINED great blue heron holds on tightly to its prey as the furry gopher attempts to wriggle free .