These poignant portraits look to shine awareness on the plight of some of the world’s most endangered ecosystems and species of wildlife. The images combine animals, art and celebrity, with Asia's top models posing with the likes of rhinos, giraffes, leopards and marine life. Here: Mikki Yao with an Asian Elephant. (Photo by Sean Lee-Davies/Caters News)

It's often said that pets and their owners can start to look alike, but these adorable photographs take the old mantra to a new extreme. They are the work of Svetlana Valyiskaya (27), from St Petersburg, who snaps pets in everyday poses in her spare time from her job as a commercial photographer. The vibrant costumes and scenes, which Svetlana designs herself, have made the photos a hit in her native Russia – and it's not hard to see why. She said: “I really love animals, they are loyal, faithful and true and always interesting to work with – plus they never criticise the photographs afterwards”. (Photo by Svetlana Valyiskaya/Mercury)

A woman walks at the Boulevard of the River the eve of the International Women's Day, in Cali, Colombia, 07 March 2019. (Photo by Ernesto Guzman Jr./EPA/EFE)

Natalia Arango works with her mine detector in a zone of landmines planted by rebels groups near Sonson in Antioquia province, November 19, 2015. Women's work takes on a nontraditional meaning for fifteen Colombian women who work to rid the Antioquia Mountains of deadly landmines as the country edges closer to a peace agreement with Marxist rebels to end over a decade of conflict which has claimed 220,000 lives. (Photo by Fredy Builes/Reuters)

Peasants in the re-taken Somme District work in the fields, circa 1916- 1917, in this Library of Congress handout photo. For women 100 years ago, opportunities to work beyond the home and take part in political life were very limited. As the 20th century progressed, hard-won progress included gradually improved voting rights, while the upheaval of war pushed doors ajar as women worked as part of the war effort. U.S. Library of Congress archive photos show women's workplaces ranging from a flour mill in England to a coal mine in Belgium or Lincoln Motor Co.'s welding department in Detroit. International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8. (Photo by Reuters/Bain Collection/Library of Congress)

Colombia midfielder Natalia Gaitan (3) goes up for a header against Mexico midfielder Nayeli Rangel (7) in Moncton, June 9, 2015. (Photo by Matt Kryger/USA TODAY Sports)

Young Christian Lebanese women, who are members of Kataeb Phalangist party, show their skill in handling arms while they train in a village between Christian-controlled eastern port of Jounieh and the Christian village of Zahle in the west Lebanon on September 9, 1976. The Lebanese civil war erupted in April 1975. (Photo by Erich Stering/AFP Photo)