Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror. She had every reason to be proud. In the space of a year, she had lost an incredible 17 stone. Her weight dropped from 37st 1lbs to 19st 7lbs, and she slipped into a dress before gazing at her newly svelte figure. With her smokey eye makeup and black skater dress, she could have been glamming up for a night on the tiles with her girlfriends. Instead, it was Halloween, 2013, and Ava was hiding a huge secret. Born a boy named William, it was the first time she had ever dressed as a girl – and everything fell into place.
With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .
IN THE not so MISTY MOUNTAINS of Wiltshire, there lies an abandoned hobbit house .
Lying angelically with a range of expressions etched on their tiny faces, little bundles of joy are innocently captured in their first few days in these adorable photographs .
NOT YOUR everyday selfie, this plucky diver poses with some of the scariest predators in the ocean .
BRAIDED, sculpted and beaded, these are the eye-catching hairstyles worn by the tribal women of Angola .
SURROUNDED by a snowstorm, these young polar bears battle the elements - as well as each other .
Surveying its surroundings, a tiny harvest mouse climbs the stem of a dandelion .
This longhorn beetle demon-strates a dark side as it looks just like the devil .
An Australian beach is illuminated by an enticing neon blue glow as a rare phenomenon lights up the water .
A SPECTRUM of colours fills the sky during this spectacular and natural display of light .
A pair of chicks bravely decided to befriend a python, despite being the snake's favourite choice of food .