Soul River service dog, Axe, rests at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refugee in Boynton Beach, Florida on June 19, 2017. Founded by war veteran Chad Brown, Soul River is an non profit organization aimed to bring together veterans dealing with PTSD and challenged inner city youth, and take them to the outdoors to help them reduce stress and find healing through nature. (Photo by Javier Galeano/AFP Photo)





The piercing green eyes of a shag on the Farne Islands in Northumberland. The islands are home to 23 different species of birds such as shags, guillemots, puffins, kittiwakes and terns. (Photo by Rose + Sjölander/Greenpeace)





An alligator emerges from a swamp with water plants on its back, Florida, US. (Photo by Svetlana Foote/Alamy Stock Photo)





In this 2015 photo provided by Jennifer Lavers, a crab uses as shelter a piece of plastic debris on the beach on Henderson Island. When researchers traveled to the tiny, uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they were astonished to find an estimated 38 million pieces of trash washed up on the beaches. (Photo by Jennifer Lavers via AP Photo)





Photo taken on February 25, 2015, shows a giant rat used to detect tuberculosis-causing bacteria at Apopo research center in Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique. Giant rats may strike fear and disgust into the hearts of homeowners worldwide, but researchers in impoverished Mozambique are improbably turning some of them into heroes. At Eduardo Mondlane University in the capital Maputo, nine giant rats are busy at work – sniffing out tuberculosis-causing bacteria from rows of sputum samples. (Photo by Adrien Barbier/AFP Photo)





In this March 31, 2016 file photo, a ring-tailed lemur watches out of a window at the zoo in Duisburg, Germany. Primates are heading toward an extinction crisis, a new international study warns. And it’s our fault that our closest biological relatives are in trouble, scientists said. About 60 percent of the more than 500 primate species, such as gorillas, monkeys and lemurs, are “now threatened with extinction” and three out of four primate species have shrinking populations, according to a study by 31 primate experts published in the January 18, 2017, journal Science Advances. (Photo by Martin Meissner/AP Photo)





Chimpanzees gather together in their compound at the Olmense Zoo in Olmen, Belgium, April 16, 2015. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)





In this photo taken on April 28, 2016, a koala who goes by the name of Ocean Summer who is blind from brain damage resides at the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie. The outlook for koala populations on Australia's east coast is dire as habitat loss, dog attacks, car strikes, climate change and disease take their toll. While there were believed to be more than 10 million koalas before British settlers arrived in 1788, a 2012 national count placed their total numbers at around 330,000, though their existence in treetops makes accurate assessment difficult. (Photo by Peter Parks/AFP Photo)





These lambs wear jackets to resist the cold. (Photo by David Hartley/SIPA Press)





Jasmine Milton, 20, from Shropshire, has already raised £20,000 through two-year-old Anuko, who found fame through his steely glare. Since hitting the headlines last year, Anuko has amassed almost 11,000 Instagram followers, hundreds of gifts and even modelling jobs. But despite his fierce looks, Jasmine says he is a lovable and affectionate pet. Now she is set to spend the cash, raked in by her famous pup, on following a dream career in medicine. (Photo by SWNS.com)





These goats threw caution to the wind and scaled this Argan tree right to the very top, even balancing on the most unsturdy of branches. It looks like a bit of a baa-lancing act, but the goats hooves are perfectly adapted to climbing the trees, where they graze on the Argan fruit. Amateur photographer Burak Senbak, 51, took these photos whilst travelling through Morocco in July 2016. Burak is originally from Turkey and works as a mechanical engineer, but has pursued his passion for photography for 10 years. Intrigued by the sight of goats in a tree, Burak couldnt resist the opportunity to take some photos, and said the goats proved a perfect subject. (Photo by Burak Senbak/Caters News)





Julie Prodanovic images of a seal having a giggle was highly commended at last year's awards on June 21, 2015. Brace yourself for some rib tickling laughter because the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards are back. To celebrate, here’s a look back at some of the best photos that came out of the last two years’ contest. Some of 2016’s priceless photos include a grizzly bear being slapped in the face by its own salmon dinner, a buffalo looking less than pleased about the trickle of bird poo oozing down his forehead and a gorilla digging for gold up his nose. Although the competition has provided laughs around the globe, its main purpose has always been to raise awareness of the importance of conserving our planet’s wildlife. (Photo by Julie Prodanovic/Barcroft Images)





Wide-Eyed Burrowing Owlet posing for selfies in front of a GoPro on May 10, 2015 in Cape Coral, Florida. (Photo by Megan Lorenz/Barcroft Images)





A meerkat appears to look like it’s just remembered it needs to be somewhere on May 27, 2015 in Little Karoo, South Africa. (Photo by Brigitta Moser/Barcroft Images)





In a Thursday, January 15, 2015 photo, Debbie Dolittle Penwill holds a smiling four months old pig, Ginger, at Jozee Rooz Indoor Petting Zoo in Parkland, Wa. Penwell and boyfriend Don Miller share a 10-acre farm in Parkland and have more than 100 animals. They plan to open the Jozee RoozIndoor Petting Zoo soon. (Photo by Lui Kit Wong/AP Photo/The News Tribune)