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.'

'Giant' George,the world's tallest dog..the Size of a LION

He's taller than Shaquille O'Neal, weighs more than Peyton Manning and eats 110 pounds of food every month. He's George, a Great Dane who stands head and shoulders above the average pup.

'Giant' George,the world's tallest dog claimed the prestigious title after Guinness Records officials measured him up at 43 inches from paw to shoulder, or 7ft 3in when 'standing' on his back legs.

The four-year-old great dane weighs a staggering 17.5 stone and consumes 110lb of food each week. George even sleeps in his own queen-size bed.

His owner David Nasser, of Tucson, Arizona, is thrilled George has topped previous holder Titan, a four-year-old great dane from San Diego, who is 0.75 of an inch shorter than George.

A few days after George was declared a record-breaker, Giant George appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show.

Being such a giant did not comes easy for George. After much deliberation and discussion, American Airlines soffered to fly Giant George to Chicago for the Oprah Winfrey show.

George would not fit in a first-class row, so he got three of his own seats at the bulk-head...This meant that Giant George would be in the fuselage, like a regular passenger.

'Triumphantly, Giant George also earned the Guinness World Records for "Tallest Dog Ever," and "Tallest Living Dog."

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.

The Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko has the greatest camouflage trick

To the less discerning eye, it could be a leaf shrivelling up on a tree fighting the onset of the first autumn chill

But this amazing form is in fact a lizard which can camouflage itself so well that it actually looks like a leaf

Perched on a branch, this Satanic leaf-tailed gecko has blended itself into its surroundings so expertly that even making out its coil-shaped body among the foliage is no mean feat

Its curvy body - at the top of the image - is only a slightly lighter hue of brown than the dark leaf it has tangled itself around

As your eyes move across to the right of the picture, you can just about see its torso making a single corkscrew movement as its darker brown tail tapers off to the right

To the left of the picture, the gecko's head can be seen as well as its left arm and left leg which squats under its body

Finally, Usain Bolt got competition!

Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt may think he's speedy afte

r breaking his own 100m world record last month. But he has nothing on Sarah the cheetah, who managed the feat in 6.13 seconds, compared to Bolt's 9.58 seconds at the World Championships in Berlin.

Like Bolt, the eight-year-old mammal managed to break her own record, after eclipsing her first time of 6.16 seconds on her second attempt. The spotted creature took to a specially designed 100m race course at at Cincinnati Zoo's Regional Cheetah Breeding Facility in America yesterday to take part in the run.

Her amazing time means she is now officially the fastest land animal.

She was so quick that she even caught up with the lure that was encouraging her to run. Sarah ran three times yesterday to claim the world record.

Her first run broke the record of 6.19 seconds with 6.16 seconds and her second run was even faster at 6.13 seconds. She ran the 100 meters in 6.33 seconds on her third run.

Giant farm dog saves baby pig's bacon

A giant farm dog and a tiny piglet cuddle up as if they were family after the baby runt was dismissed by its own mother.

Surrogate mum Katjinga, an eight-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, took on motherly duties for grunter Paulinchen - a tiny pot-bellied pig - and seems to be taking the adoption in her stride.

And the unlikely relationship has made the wrinkly piggy a genuine sausage dog. In these adorable images Paulinchen can even be seen trying to suckle from her gigantic new mum.

The two animals live together on a huge 20-acre farm in Hoerstel, Germany, where Katjinga's owners Roland Adam, 54, and his wife Edit, 44, a bank worker, keep a pair of breeding Vietnamese pigs.

The weak and struggling piglet was found after she was abandoned by the rest of her family one evening after she was born.

Mum of the year? Quite possibly.