These zoo animals take on an altogether more sinister look after posing for a set of moody black and white portraits. Alex Teuscher has brought out the dark side in a range of exotic creatures with his artistic project which took two years to complete. Photo: White tiger. (Photo by Alex Teuscher/BNPS)

The brave boy, called Belal and in his early teens, held the young fawn in one hand above his head as he plunged through the surging river to save it. Onlookers watched as the boy waded through the raging river to get to the other side safely. (Photo by Hasib Wahab/Caters News)

The Northern Lights glow green in a spectacular light show above a field of trees frozen solid with snow. (Photo by Jaak Sarv/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Charlotte Bridgeman poses for a series of triptych portraits during New York Fashion Week February 6, 2014. Bridgeman, from Australia, is attending her second fashion week. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Skeleton involves a person riding a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down. The sport is a more intense form of luge because skeleton competitors leap onto the sled and slide downhill head first. Skeleton athletes can reach up to 80 mph on straightaways, causing forces up to 5g, so the helmet is a critical component for attitude as well as safety.

The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia and south of Angola from the Kunene River south to the Swakop River, although the name is sometimes used to describe the entire Namib Desert coast. The Bushmen of the Namibian interior called the region "The Land God Made in Anger", while Portuguese sailors once referred to it as "The Gates of Hell".

Performers line up during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, February 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Darron Cummings/AP Photo)

“These are the astonishing images of the very aptly named door to hell, a fiery crater thats baffled scientist and has been flaming away for more than 40 years. The crater is 230-feet wide and situated near Derweze village in Turkmenistan”. – Caters News. (Photo by William Keeping/Caters News)