Fascinating and heartbreaking animal photography
A man rides a horse through a bonfire on January 16, 2012 in the small village of San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain. In honor of San Anton, the patron saint of animals, horses are ridden through the bonfires on the night before the official day of honoring animals in Spain. (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
Horses rear on a frosted field in Quorn, England, on January 16, 2012. (Reuters/Darren Staples)
Mushers and their dogs wait for the mass start of the eighth stage of the La Grande Odyssee sled dogs race in Bessans, France, on January 16, 2012. The race crosses the French Alps, covering over 1000 km (621 miles) over 11 days. (Reuters/Denis Balibouse)
A bullfrog hops on the field as Carlos Costly #13 of Honduras brings the ball up in the rain against the USA at Sun Life Stadium on October 8, 2011 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Marc Serota/Getty Images)
Deer carcases hang from a swingset after being cleaned in Ladora, Iowa, on December 27, 2011. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
A monkey plays with a discarded piece of plastic in New Delhi, India, on January 10, 2012. Discarded plastics kill thousands of animals worldwide, some suffocating, and others ingesting them mistakenly as food. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
Rosa, a 5-year-old female bear, lives in a cage near a gas station in Lityn, 400 km (245 mi) away from Kiev, Ukraine, seen on December 15, 2011. The Vier Pfoten (Four Paws) Animal Welfare Foundation started a bear rescue project together with the Ukrainian Ministry of Environment Natural Resources and the Rehabilitation Bears Center in Synvyr, Ukraine. According to the Vier Pfoten, unofficial statistics count more than 100 bears kept in captivity by private owners in restaurants, hotels and gas stations as tourist attractions. They are known as vodka bears as customers give them alcohol drinks for fun. (Reuters/Mihai Vasile/Vier Pfoten/Handout)
Siberian tigers approach a keeper’s car as they wait to be fed at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, China, on December 27, 2011. More than 800 Siberian tigers are currently living in the park, which is also a breeding center for this endangered species, local media reported. (Reuters/Sheng Li)
