While many of us would pay good money for a spa mud bath, these fortunate hippos in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, have nature to thank as they take a plunge in a lagoon in the second decade of February 2024. (Photo by Dimitar Nedelchev/Solent News)

A shepherd and his flock in the Bitlis province of eastern Turkey in the first decade of April 2024. Shepherds regularly embark on gruelling journeys through the dusty outback, as they take their sheep to the high plateaus needed for grazing and then back to villages for milking. (Photo by Kahraman Kaya/Solent News)

A sea otter in the Great Bear Rainforest, off the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada in the second decade of December 2024, appeared to be enjoying a relaxing swim as it preened its fur, the densest of any mammal. (Photo by Max Waugh/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A blue tit comes face to face with its reflection in a car wing mirror in east Yorkshire in the last decade of July 2022. The photographer said: “I sat watching this little blue tit for 30 minutes as it fought with its own reflection”. (Photo by Dave Newman/Solent News)

A Bengal tiger grabs a bag of food belonging to labourers at the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur, India in the first decade of February 2024. The workers were cutting the grass to avoid forest fires in the area. The wild feline, watched on by its family, later dropped the bag without any harm caused. (Photo by Jignesh Patel/Solent news)

Fishermen are surrounded by green water as they use large nets to catch fish. The workers were pictured trying to find fish below the algae in Rajshahi, Bangladesh in the last decade of February 2024. (Photo by Bipul Ahmed/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A university in the Philippines in March 2024 has come up with a novel way to stop students cheating in exams – by getting them to wear hats in the shape of animated characters and random objects such as a crate of beer. (Photo by Angelo Ebora/beampix/Solent news)

A mountain hare shakes off rain from its fur, in Findhorn Valley, Moray, Scotland in the second decade of August 2024. In summer, the hare’s coat is a grey-brown colour with a tinge of blue, making them hard to spot against the heather moorland. In winter, it changes to almost completely white for camouflage in the snow. (Photo by Will Hall/Solent News)