The Smilovichi Felting Factory in Belarus was founded in 1928, when Smilovichi was a small Jewish settlement of craftsmen. Five of those craftsmen organized a small artel (a cooperative association of craftsmen who all live and work together), which produced warm boots called “valenki” for cold weather. Photo: Belarusian workers works at a felt boot factory in Smilovichi, some 35km from Minsk, Belarus, 16 January 2012. (Photo by Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA)

Taken by photographer, Denis Budkov, 33, the Plosky Tolbachik is one of a cluster of volcanoes located in the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east of Russia. After taking a lucky group of tourists to the crater of the flat volcano, the Russian photographer managed to get less than 300 metres away from the spurting jets of lava. Photo: The underground entrance to the volcano resembles a scene from the latest Hobbit movie. (Photo by Denis Budkov/Caters News)

This diver almost got sucked into the mouth of a massive whale shark as it feeds on plankton. But far from staring into the jaws of death – the shark, which are the sea's largest fish, is actually vegetarian. The relieved diver escaped from the encounter unscathed and continued to enjoy the presence of the incredibly docile animals. The stunning photograph, by Mauricio Handler, was taken during a feeding session where more than 600 of the huge creatures gathered to feed on tuna spawn. (Photo by Mauricio Handler/Daily Mail/Solent)

In an observance of Epiphany, Russian Orthodox believers swim in an icy pond outside Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. (Photo by Olga “Zwezdochka”)

Bouboule, an English bulldog rests in its hotel room at Actuel Dogs on April 19, 2011 in Vincennes, France. Opened in November 2010 by Devi and Stan Burun, Actuel Dogs is a five-star luxury hotel for dogs with four single rooms and two suites. With the aim of meeting the dogs' needs, the hotel offers activities including doggy walks, doggy rando (hiking), doggy jogs, doggy velo (running next to a bike) and other services such as dog massage. The hotel also caters to the needs of people living in small appartments or who don't have the time to walk their dogs. (Photo by Franck Prevel/Getty Images)

Dont get catty. These roar-some images show the moment two female tigers came to blows in a bitter dispute over territory. Rarely ever seen in the wild let alone on camera, the dramatic images show a white Siberian tiger and orange-coloured tiger slashing ferociously at each others face and eyes. The intense altercation erupted into violence when the smallest of the pair, the orange striped tiger known as Shadow, attempted to expand its hunting ground. But white tiger, TiBo, wasnt willing to give up the ground without a fight and was forced to use its size and weight to put Shadow firmly back in her place. (Photo by Alex Kirichko/Caters News/SIPA Press)

Fur hats are seen on display at the 2015 China Fur and Leather Products Fair in Beijing, January 15, 2015. Hundreds of domestic and foreign fur product companies take part in the fair which runs from January 13 to 16 at the National Convention Centre. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)