BEAR CUBS AND DOTING MUM

A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post. These adorable photographs of two playful bear cubs and their watchful mum were captured by American nature photographer D. Robert Franz, 56, on a visit to Lake Clark National Park, Alaska. 'What we see in these photographs is the interaction between the mother brown bear and her two cubs,' says D. Robert, of Cody, Wyoming.

Other great stories
ANCIENT ABANDONED WEBSITES THAT STILL WORK TODAY

A host of websites that are almost twenty years old are collecting a cult following thanks to their retro appeal .

FISH FIGHT

FINALLY catching a meal, a pair of great white egrets fight over their dinner .

FIGHTING FOX IS BEATEN BY EAGLES

A fox takes a tumble and lands on his head when he tries to fend off a pair of eagles in Japan .

COUGAR: I FELL FOR MAN 18YRS MY JUNIOR BUT MY SONS DIDN'T COME TO OUR WEDDING

A woman has revealed how she left her husband of 24 years, after falling in love with a man, 18 years her junior .

POLAR BEARS HAVE A SPLASHING TIME

Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .

MUM SPEAKS OUT AFTER EX TORTURED HER IN THREE HOUR ATTACK

A mum-of-two, who was scarred for life in a brutal attack at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, is now urging others to leave their abusive partners .

ABANDONED TAVERN AND FARM SHOP

STOOD side by side next to a busy road, these buildings were once bustling with life .

HOURS FROM DEATH: TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME NEARLY KILLED ME AFTER LEAVING TAMPON IN FOR FIVE DAYS

A mother-of-one has told how she nearly died after contracting toxic shock syndrome from a tampon .

STUNNING WINTER PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HIGHEST RAILWAY IN THE ALPS

ROLLING across a 65-metre-high viaduct in the Alps, the red carriages of the Bernina Express add a splash of colour to the spectacular snow-covered Swiss surroundings .

BUBBLE BLOWING BEAR

BLOWING bubbles underwater, this adorable polar bear slides into his tank for a playful dip .

ROAD KILL ON THE MENU

A ROAD KILL munching Scot has chewed on everything from a dead squirrel to an unlucky crow – all in the name of art .

WOMAN LOSES 11ST AFTER £11K GASTRIC SLEEVE OP

A woman has shed half her body weight after undergoing a gastric sleeve op to shrink her stomach .