A tired-looking Javan Fish Owl. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 5th December 1973

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula, from the Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus Phalangista) is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, it is native to Australia, and the second largest of the possums.

Tatyana Abramova, 33, plays with her home fox Plombir at her countryside house outside Siberian city of Novosibirsk on September 12, 2020. The official start of the Soviet experiment to better understand the domestication of animals by humans began in 1959, and was initiated by geneticists Dmitri Beliaiev and Lioudmila Trout on a farm in Akademgorodok, the scientific center of excellence in Siberia. Their primary objective was to domesticate foxes, to understand how the ancestor of wolves, another canine, evolved into a loyal and loving dog. And understand what this domestication tells us about the genetic evolution of species. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

Victoria's Secret Angels (fromL) Brazilian model Adriana Lima, Swedish model Elsa Hosk, Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio, US model Taylor Hill, US model Martha Hunt and Portuguese model Sara Sampaio cheer during the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Grand Palais in Paris on November 30, 2016. (Photo by Martin Bureau/AFP Photo)

The winners of The London’s Natural History Museum's prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year for 2013 have finally been unveiled. Selected from almost 43,000 entries from 96 countries, the winners offer a glimpse of the stunning array of natural beauty on our planet. Photo: Canada: “Lucky pounce”. “Anticipating the pounce – that was the hardest part”, says Connor, who had come to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, in search of wildlife as much as the spectacular landscape. He had found this fox, his first ever, on his last day in the park. It was so absorbed in hunting that Connor had plenty of time to get out of the car and settle behind a rock. It quartered the grassland, back and forth, and then started staring intently at a patch of ground, giving Connor just enough warning of the action to come. When it sprung up, Connor got his shot. And when it landed, the fox got his mouse. (Photo by Connor Stefanison/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013)

A dramatic rise in owning exotic pets in China is fuelling global demand for threatened species. The growing trade in alligators, snakes, monkeys, crocodiles and spiders is directly linked to species loss in some of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Here: A fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is groomed in a pet store in central Beijing. Native to the Sahara in North Africa, the species became a popular pet after being depicted as a character in Disney’s 2016 animated movie Zootopia. Individuals can cost between $2,000–$3,000. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/The Guardian)

An inventive make-up artist has started using her chin as a canvas for unique paintings of popular cartoon characters. Using her own mouth as the teeth and lips of her subjects, stunning Laura Jenkinson, 25, paints around them using theatrical make-up to create the pint-sized portraits. Shrek, Finding Nemo’s Dory and the Genie from Aladdin have all featured in the series of incredible pictures that she has spent a year putting together. Her pictures have gone viral on facebook and Instagram where her posts regularly receive more than 1500 likes. Here, Bugs Bunny from “Looney Tunes” is depicted on Jenkinson. (Photo by Laura Jenkinson/Caters News)

A woman takes her souvenir picture with a white fox in front of ice sculptures illuminated by coloured lights during the opening day of the 31st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, January 5, 2015. The annual Ice and Snow Festival, organized by China National Tourism Administration and local governments, kicked off on Monday in Harbin, one of the coldest cities in China. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)