SAILING peacefully across a river in the early morning light, a fisherman in China keeps a 1000 year old tradition alive. Equipped with a bird, gas lamp and net, he fishes without the aid of a rod by using an unusual method - first practiced in 960 AD. The fisherman, pictured in southern China, releases a cormorant bird which dives into the water and retrieves a carp, before returning to the fisherman’s reed raft. The stunning images of cormorant fishing were captured on the River Li in Guilin, China by Russian photographer Viktoriia Rogotneva when he visited the fishermen of Guilin.
WITH a paw in the air and his tongue hanging from his mouth, it is clear to see that this little groundhog is struggling to wake up and leave behind the comfort of his burrow .
A PENSIONER was left with a fractured jaw after being beaten and robbed outside his home in Birmingham last weekend .
STARING intently into the camera, a polar bear appears to be lost in thought while relaxing in the snow .
BURSTING from the water, a beautiful but deadly Sumatran tiger jumps for food in an Indonesian zoo .
Raising his arms above his head and lying flat on his back, a polar bear stretches as he sprawls out across the ice .
SOME OF the sea’s most terrifying creatures show their softer side as they join a group of diners for lunch .
POPE MOBBED BY THOUSANDS OF WORSHIPPERS IN RIO - Thousands of worshippers gather to celebrate the Papal visit on Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro ,Brazil .
DIPPING his head into the vase of water, this little squirrel takes a refreshing break from an afternoon of eating .
A brave leopard kicks back and relaxes in the sunshine - just inches from an enormous crocodile .
DIVING down at a speed of 75mph, this is the moment a hungry osprey caught his prey .
DASHING through the snow, this little stoat is on the lookout for a Christmas feast .
A BROWN bear wades through waters in Alaska and waits for his lunch .