Trainer almost mauled by White Bengal tiger while playing!

A wildlife park worker had a lucky escape after slipping during a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a giant Bengal white tiger.

A crowd of onlookers held their breath as the park worker narrowly escaped a mauling after falling over while running from the fearsome beast.

The dramatic scene was captured during a daily 'tiger splash' event at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park, in Arizona, U.S.

Park worker Jeff Harwell participates as the prey during a daily routine with the cats, where they chase an inflatable toy being held by him.

The tigers are usually so excited about capturing and popping the toy they do not harm the park workers.

The workers then jump into a pool with the tiger at the end of the game.

But this time Mr Harwell slipped over on the wet grass - and found himself between the two-year-old white tiger called Chalet and his inflatable toy.

Thinking quickly, Mr Harwell managed to throw the toy into the pool, distracting the young tiger.

Chalet leapt in to the pool after the toy, as Mr Harwell scrambled to his feet.

Gasps of horror were heard from the audience.

But Mr Harwell - who was unharmed in the incident - continued to play with the tigers.

The tigers who are not being trained to perform tricks at the park but are playing these games to tap into their natural instincts.

Wildlife photographer Kathleen Reeder, who took the pictures said: 'It's an unbelievable event to watch and even more unbelievable when situations like this occur.

'The reaction of the crowd was nothing less than jaw dropping.

'We could tell Jeff's fall was unexpected and that he could easily be injured if he didn't react instantaneously.

'The other park workers were ready to jump in to help and watched intently while he reacted swiftly.

'Without missing a step, Jeff successfully diverted the tiger's attention, and the show went on as though this is all part of the event.

'The tigers are treated with a lot of loving care, so the workers are more like friends and the tigers have no reason to intentionally hurt them.

The story of an owl who doesn't act like one.

For a Tawny Owl with a yardwide wingspan, the sky should be the limit.

But Troy prefers his bird's eye view to be no higher than 5ft 10in. The one-year-old has an inconvenient phobia: he's terrified of heights.

After an unfortunate start in life when he fell from his nest, Troy was raised in captivity by handler Gareth Tonen, who just happens to be 5ft 10in tall.

As a result, Troy has grown up without any lofty aspirations of his own. When it comes to trees, he can't see what all the fuss is about and would much prefer to cruise along at Mr Tonen's side.

Only when the 25-year-old handler shins up a tree, can Troy be tempted to leave his comfort zone and join him.

Troy's apparent fear of heights was a result of forgetting how to be a bird. He's been in captivity for as long as he can remember and has never been higher than his handler can lift him. He sees himself as more of a human than an owl, he doesn't know how to sit in trees or hunt.

Most of the time he will then fly down again, but occasionally Mr Tonen will have to carry him back to ground level.

Mr Tonen said: 'I don't think he even knows he's an owl - he thinks he's a Gareth. He sees himself as a small person rather than an owl. He now looks upon me as his mum and dad rolled into one.

'We'll get there. He's gaining more confidence and if I have to carry on climbing up trees with him then we'll do what it takes for him to be a high flyer.'

'Gareth has to almost act like an owl to get Troy to behave like one.' As a result, a daily tree climb has become part of Troy's - and Mr Tonen's - routine.

Ladders have been fixed so Mr Tonen can scramble into the trees and call for Troy, who will fly up and join his handler - but go no higher.

Putting your hand into gigantic Great White Shark mouth? Don Carpenter done that!!!

Despite staring into the jaws of death, this diver still had the presence of mind to take a picture.

This amazing image from photographer Don Carpenter show him fending off a Great White shark, pushing its snout, then putting his hand in its mouth. More astonishing photos, taken from a nearby cage, show how powerful these killers are as the 15ft, one-and-a-half ton shark attacks.

The shots were taken off Guadeloupe Island, Mexico by Mr Carpenter, who spent two days diving with the female Great White.

Due to local regulations, he was not allowed to scatter fish guts, known as 'chumming', or put decoys in the water to attract the beasts - so meeting this shark really was a natural experience.

The group of divers were in the cages 30 feet down when the Great White approached, first checking out Don's cage, where he got snapped the close-up - and avoided being snapped himself.

Mr Carpenter said 'Don't kid yourself for one minute - when you're practically touching the nose of a Great White you're thinking two things: how fast can I get back into the cage and will it hurt when she rips my torso off and leaves my legs standing there.

The shark then switched its attention to the other cage. 'Without a reference point this Great White wouldn't look particularly big, but next to the cage filled with divers you can see how big she is.

'It was all very quick but you can see the diver pushing the shark away. Don even captured him with his hand in her mouth at one point. (this guy is crazy)

Amazing shot of rarely seen Beluga creature

Beluga whales live under three feet of ice in the freezing waters of northern Russia’s White Sea which is why they don’t get visitors in these parts that often.

When some underwater photographers arrived, they certainly weren’t shy - as these stunning images show. The whales are not endangered but under threat from pollution and loss of habitat.

A beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, eyes a diver a few feet away as it swims under ice

At this whale sanctuary, where a natural bay under the ice provides a haven from the strong currents of the wider ocean. Photographer Franco Banfi, who took these shots after his team carved through the ice with a handsaw, said: ‘When a whale comes up to us and swims by, it looks you right in the eyes'.Obviously we don't know what they think, but they are very curious creatures.

A scuba diver braves temperatures of -10C to approach the whale

But while the beluga, or white whale, is built for these harsh surroundings, the diving team face extremely tough conditions to get close to the gentle creatures.

Before each dive the team have to create holes in the three-foot-deep ice using a hand saw, just to get through to the sea below.Once they're in they have to swim around in heavy layers of clothes to keep alive in the -10C waters.

The whale tries to eat the camera, unsure of what it is

And it's definitely a case of choosing the short straw for one volunteer who gets to stay above ground in -30C winds, making sure the ice hole doesn't freeze over and trap the group.

Because of the ice-layer and snow cover, there is not sufficient light to shoot with ambient light and batteries lose their charge more quickly in cold weather. Cold itself will not hurt the equipment, but it may slow down some of its functions.

On why I sharing this post here?...it was because Franco added that he was keen to show the beauty of the undersea world to those who can't face the icy deep themselves.

'As photographer, I've always been driven to bring photographs of animals one hardly ever sees to a printed page,' he said.

'I want to see these amazing animals in a way that only a few people have seen and I want to share it with others.'

Snake eating its own tail, too hungry perhaps?

A pet snake got itself in a bit of a bind after it mistook its own tail for a tasty dinner.

Reggie the King snake soon realised his mistake after chomping down on his back end but then couldn't release himself after his teeth had taken hold.

Luckily the hungry reptile's owner arrived on the scene before the snake began to digest its own body, and rushed him to the vet.

The snake had also dislocated its jaw in its attempt to get its mouth around the tail.

Mr Reynolds was able to gently untangle Reggie by prising its jaws open a little wider and sliding the teeth off the flesh using a probe. The whole operation took only half an hour.

'There is a temptation for a snake-eater like this one to lunge at its own tail, especially if kept in a small enclosure. They can't spread themselves out and think their tails are another snake

Luckily the tip of the 18-year-old snake's tail hadn't entered its stomach so it hadn't come to any harm. All Reggie was left nursing was perhaps wounded pride.

New concept for attracting crowds in a zoo!

Look at pic below..the old couple was really lovely and BRAVE as well..they were not scared by the presence of the lion. They can even smile and stare at the lion while the lion was only 1 metre away from them..Brave huh..

But that was actually part of the attraction in a new zoo at Werribee Open Range Zoo, in Melbourne, Australia which allows visitors to get incredibly close to the lions.

The back part of the jeep, up to where the windscreen should be, is actually on the outside of the reinforced glass cage. The bonnet is on the inside, and covered with meat to entice the lions closer.

We've never been so close to such incredible animals before. You don't realise just how big they are until they are staring you in the face like that.

Wild animals captured in stunning studio photographs

They say people should never work with animals - but one look at this cuddly, sleepy panda and it's easy to see why a team of wildlife photographers ignored the advice.

The baby panda is among hundreds of the world's rarest and most stunning animals which have been captured in studio images in an astonishing look at wildlife.

Photographer Eric Isselee and his team are behind the ambitious project, and take their portable studio to the animal kingdom.

The patient photography team travel throughout the entire world looking for animals, both domestic and wild, and insist on photographing them in their own environment.

The animals, including adorable Menari the baby orangutan, are often born into breeding programmes from zoos and conservation centres across the globe.

But despite not being born in the wild, Isselee wants the pictures of captive animals to highlight the plight of their endangered cousins.

From huge hippos and rhinos to dainty ducklings and even beetles, the subjects come in all shapes and sizes.