Nature is Incredible

WHILST most seven-year-olds are addicted to gaming, this young boy prefers to chase America’s wildest weather

A PHOTOGRAPHER has travelled the world to capture expressive self-portraits revealing his sexuality

AN adventurer has documented his 5,000 miles journey aboard a 100-year-old ship, sailing from Argentina to Antarctica to Cape Town

FROM giant hailstorms to destructive tornados, one storm chaser has documented America’s wildest weather throughout the course of 2016

A PHOTOGRAPHER has captured breathtaking images of Romanian landscapes with a £200 camera, proving that you don’t need expensive equipment to produce impressive pictures

ON FIRST glance the magnificent shapes and colours of these fields could be mistaken for abstract works of art - when in fact they are the farmlands of everyday wild rice

DELVE into an ancient nest of magnificent caves formed over 400 million years ago

LAVA levels in one of the world’s most active volcanoes are currently on the rise - and are showing no signs of slowing down

UNKNOWN to the everyday tourist there are over 8,000 caves in Slovenia with many more being discovered every year, but just 20 of these are open to visitors

EVERY year the mild temperatures of summer melt large ice glaciers, feeding the powerful waterfalls of Iceland

AT 3726m tall, and actively erupting, it’s difficult not to be intimidated by the second largest volcano in Indonesia

THIS one million-year-old sacred lake was created when a giant meteorite crash landed in what was once a lush rainforest

SHOT in one of the darkest places on Earth, these breathtaking images reveal the beauty of the Perseid meteor shower in all its glory

BEHIND the serenity of the pink Lake Retba in Africa is the gruelling reality of strenuous manual labour

WITNESSING the beautiful spectrum of colours in Yellowstone National Park springs, you could almost forget you’re standing on a supervolcano way past its eruption due date

FOR fans of ‘canyoning’, jumping off waterfalls, abseiling down sheer cliff faces and being whisked down fast-flowing mountain streams are all just part of the fun

THE OLDEST and deepest freshwater lake in the world freezes over with ice cracks hundred of yard long

LOOK closely at the waves in this photo and you’ll notice a friendly face

THESE shots may look like alien landscapes - but they were actually taken in the deserts of south-western USA

A GROUP of UK adventurers have made history as the first Brits believed to have freedived in Antarctica

AT FIRST glance you could easily mistake these shots for impressionist paintings

A coalition of six male lions look up with gleaming eyes before strolling towards the photographer sitting only 10km away

MANDRILLS, also known as the largest monkey in the world, get up close and personal with the camera as they show off their striking colours and lines in the following series of captivating photos

AN INTREPID photographer has traversed the globe to capture some of the planet’s most dangerous animals - as they have never been seen before

THIS tiny spider looks ready to jump out from the screen in the following series of incredible macro photography - showcasing every last detail of the hairy eight-legged creatures

INCREDIBLE pictures show the moment a pod of hungry Dalmation pelicans get up close and personal with the camera as they flock to Lake Kerkini for a fish feast

A group of giraffes look like they’re attempting to do the splits, just so they can quench their thirst

A PRIDE of lionesses had their afternoon nap interrupted by a furious swarm of bees

AN ABANDONED baby rhino is now thriving after being rescued at a wildlife conservancy

A HIGH school student creates stunning pictures of butterflies against a magical background using just sprays of water

THIS handsome lion looks as proud and professional as any male model sprawled across the bonnet of a white Mercedes G-class during a photo shoot

AN UNRULY lion cub is scolded by its mother after running amok on a family outing

A VAIN snake appeared to pull a Zoolander-style pout when it dropped from a tree to photobomb a baby crocodile

AN INTREPID photographer sailed to Antarctica to capture the beauty and wilderness of the White Continent

AN AMATEUR photographer has captured close-ups of creepy crawlies – revealing their colourful faces and ‘alien’ eyes

TWO 40 tonne humpback whales put on a show to remember for the inhabitants of this small boat - at one point coming so close that they accidentally collided with it

A BRITISH wildlife photographer has captured close-up images of some of the world’s most elusive carnivores

HAVING already flipped one lion, a never-say-die buffalo found an ingenious way to shake off its second attacker - by using its horns to puncture a car tyre

A SPRIGHTLY kingfisher sits perched on a 'no fishing' sign as it ruthlessly stalks its swimming prey

THESE rare nacreous clouds illuminate the sky like something from a science-fiction movie

A VETERAN explorer and wildlife photographer captured the amazing moment a mother polar bear taught her cubs to swim

A YOUNG male elephant rejoices as he takes a swim during a brief respite from the droughts in South Africa

A CROCODILE sinks its razor sharp teeth into another in an extreme battle for dominance

EVER wondered what the ocean waves look like from beneath the surface?

THOUSANDS of bats seek sanctuary from the winter weather in a public walkway set into a mountainside in Kochi, Japan

A BRAVE diver puts his hands next to the mouth of a dusky shark to remove a hook - after first hypnotising the predator

A DISTRESSED elephant tries to protect her unconscious baby in a heartbreaking display of motherly love

A COLONY of southern carmine bee-eaters create a blizzard of colour as they flock in their thousands

A VOLCANO shoots huge plumes of dark ash cloud into the air - creating dramatic bolts of lightning

ANGRY hippos look to assert their dominance as they battle it out in the waters of iSimangaliso World Heritage Site

STANDING in temperatures well below freezing, these 30ft tall lighthouses are turned into giant icicles

SKY-SHATTERING lightning cracks over Johannesburg in these incredible composites

A HUNGRY leopard snatches an unsuspecting bird out of the air – before losing its grip and allowing its prey to make a miraculous escape

THIS is the spectacular view afforded to astronauts onboard the International Space Station

A RAMPAGING circus elephant lifts a car off the ground, a jaguar ambushes an unsuspecting caiman, and an 80lb dog won its weight loss battle - these are just some of the incredible moments that feature in Barcroft TV's animals and pets 2015 round-up

A WILDLIFE photographer was treated to a free car wash by a salt loving moose and her calf

AN ATTENTION-SEEKING leopard cub was put in its place - after its irritated mother decided enough was enough

HUGE hail, terrifying lighting and giant supercells the size of buildings – these incredible images depict a year in the life of a storm chaser

A COWARDLY lion climbing a tree to escape a herd of buffalo, a Brazilian bodybuilder who injected himself with oil to look like the Incredible Hulk and a man abseiling into a lava lake are just some of the incredible images that feature in Barcroft Media's 2015 end of year round-up

A POWERFUL tiger launches itself at its keeper - before the pair make an almighty splash into a swimming pool

A HUNGRY jaguar and a large caiman wrestle in a river for 20 minutes before the big cat finally prevails

AN AFRICAN elephant detects dangerous TNT using its extraordinary sense of smell

A BRITISH diver is dwarfed by a giant southern ocean sunfish off the coast of Bali

A GROUP of doe-eyed sloths learn to climb by scaling and then swinging from the back of a rocking chair

AN ANGRY Mount Etna scorches the skies over Sicily with a tremendous eruption

GREAT white sharks leap out of the water before crashing back down to kill their prey

SWARMS of fireflies illuminate the undergrowth in a Japanese forest - providing an enchanting night-time spectacle

A GREAT white shark demonstrates the power of its infamous jaws – but loses one of its razor sharp teeth in the process

A PACK of sporty dogs wear goggles to shields their eyes from the blinding rays of the sun

THUNDEROUS dark clouds gather above the barren Botswana landscape before a downpour of biblical proportions

LURKING underneath a tourist boat in the Philippines swims one of the biggest fish in the world - a whale shark

A SWARM of bees take a few moments out of their busy schedule to relax and have a drink

A man in a wetsuit leaps off a speeding boat straight into the crystal-blue waters off Borneo

MAGNIFICENT humpback whales surge through the ocean as they make their annual journey from the Antarctic to the South Pacific

A FEARSOME lion protects his pride from a marauding young bull elephant at a watering hole

MILLIONS of swirling bats blot out the sub-Saharan skies during their spectacular annual migration

A FEROCIOUS leopard springs from the undergrowth to take down an unsuspecting wildebeest

A TERRIFIED film crew had a lucky escape after being charged at by an angry female elephant

PLAYFUL puffins get up to mischief on the picturesque Welsh island of Skomer

A COLOURBLIND photographer is using his deficiency to snap beautiful photos of insects and nature that are invisible to the human eye

KOMODO dragons rear up on their hind legs during an early morning fight on Rinca island, Indonesia

RAVENOUS lions feast on the body of a hippo that had strayed away from the river

A BABY rat snake breaks free from its egg as it begins to explore its new surroundings

A COCKY hyena had a 'foot in mouth' moment when it was spotted carrying part of an ELEPHANT'S leg

AN ADORABLE baby seal opens its eyes to the world after being born on the east coast of Scotland

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT

A FEARLESS photographer has dedicated his life to chasing storms after a tornado almost killed him on the way to his high school prom in 1993

A PUSHY male leopard is brought down to earth after picking a fight up a tree

A BRAVE adventurer managed to come just feet from a massive eight metre Anaconda

A HUGE elephant is treated by a heroic team of medics after it was shot with a poacher's poisoned arrow