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
SPECTACULAR SCENERY AT CHILEAN OBSERVATORIES

An Italian photographer travelled to Chile where he visited several star-gazing sites, home to some of the world's most advanced telescopes, located in the spectacular setting of the Atacama desert .

ABANDONED DAIRY FARM'S EERIE PAST

HEARTWARMING belongings lie abandoned in this eerie former dairy farm which has been left to crumble away for decades .

HAVING A HOOT: BABY OWL HAS A CHUCKLE

Something appears to have tickled this baby owl as he seems to be having a real HOOT .

LOST LEAPING BABY WHALE

LEAPING for joy five-feet above the waves this baby whale cutie is saying HELLO to its family after being lost .

INCREDIBLE PHOTOREALISTIC DRAWINGS CREATED WITH A BALLPOINT PEN

FROM a HOLLYWOOD actress to the face of an innocent child, these are incredible drawings with an unlikely twist .

INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF INDIANS

An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .

OUT-STANDING FIREFIGHTER BREAKS ENDURANCE WORLD RECORD

A US firefighter has battled osteoarthritis and four hip replacements to break the world paddleboarding record .

OWLS ARE MASTERS OF DISGUISE IN INDIAN FOREST

HUDDLED together in the hollow of a tree, it would be easy to overlook these two sleepy owls as they blend into the trunk .

HUNDREDS OF HOT AIR BALLOONS DECORATE TURKISH SKY

HUNDREDS of hot air balloons decorate the sky above Turkey as the rising sun illuminates the spectacular scenery below .

BAITBALL READY TO POP

LIKE A living balloon this baitball of sardines is ready to burst when threatened by a pointy nosed sailfish .

REAL-LIFE LITTLE BO PEEP AGE 20 DEVOTED TO HER 4 PET SHEEP

Meet the real-life Little Bo Peep - a young woman who spends her days tending to her four pet SHEEP .

POLYAMOROUS TRIO: I SHARE A HOUSE WITH MY TWO BOYFRIENDS AND OUR CHILDREN

Sunny Saap, 27, from Columbia, Missouri, United States, enjoys life with her two boyfriends .