Here is a look back at some of our favourite photographs of creatures great and small from around the world in 2016. A red squirrel adopts a ninja-like pose reminiscent of the 80s blockbuster Karate Kid as he squares up to another rodent during a fight over some seeds that had been thrown onto the snow in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. A ray joins Sea life London Aquarium aquarist Rebecca Carter for a quick 'selfie' during the annual January deep clean Come fly with me: Photographer Lindsay Crossley caught the moment an unlucky frog was carried off by a hungry heron on the moors near Bacup, Lancashire. The helpless amphibian appears to fling out its limbs in a desperate bid to raise the alarm. A giant panda cub falls from the stage while 23 giant pandas born in 2016 are seen on a display at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China A group of children have a close encounter with a polar bear at the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat in Ontario, Canada. The unique tank allows visitors to be just inches away from the giant beasts - while safely behind bulletproof glass. Austin Rover: A bull mastiff relaxes in his owner's van in King's Cross, London Lounge lizards Baby Love and Buddy Love take it easy at an outdoor cafe in Beverly Hills in California. Henry Schifberg, now legally known as Henry Lizardlover, keeps up to 50 reptiles in his home. The surfs up for Kuli the one-eyed surfing cat, seen here hanging around 'out the back' with owner Alexandra Gomez in Honolulu, Hawaii 'There's a starling whaling in the sky': A murmuration of migrating starlings form the shape of a whale as they cross the sky in southern Israel Larry the Downing Street cat poses for Telegraph photographer Eddie Mulholland beneath the Downing Street Christmas tree This stunning photo of thousands of fireflies illuminating a forest on the Japanese island of Shikoku won the Open category at the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards Tongue lashing: A veiled chameleon catches a tasty dragonfly with its extra long tongue Jim Kowalczik plays with Jimbo, a 1500-pound Kodiak bear, at the Orphaned Wildlife Center in Otisville, N.Y. A jay picks kernels in the forest on the outskirts of Novogrudok, 150 km (93 miles) west of the capital Minsk, Belarus This greedy chipmunk has bitten off more than she can chew after stuffing her mouth with a monkey nut. The hungry striped rodent called Mimi was photographed in Port Credit, Ontario, Canada. Have you seen the rook?: A jay and a squirrel look engrossed in a game of chess in a snowy Russian forest Angela Bohlke won Overall and On the Land category in the Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016 with this image of a fox face planting in the snow in Yellowstone National Park, USA A photographer has caught on camera the moment a young mountain gorilla decided to pick his nose. The cheeky ape took a quick look around to make sure no-one was watching before sticking his finger up his nostril and then putting his dirty finger in his mouth. The pictures were taken by Cedric Favero in Musanze, Rwanda. Bornean orangutan called Cantik plays with some string at Usti nad Labem Zoo in the Czech Republic Ellie Gelding: A horse has been spotted sporting a stunning blonde mane that looks like it could be a wig. The horse was photographed by Batzaya Choijiljav in Mongolia (or Manegolia?) where temperatures drop to -40 degrees during winter. A tiny sloth that became stuck on the central reservation of a motorway and clung to the crash barrier for dear life, has tugged heartstrings around the world. It was spotted in the city of Quevedo, Ecuador, after becoming trapped by traffic passing on either side at high speed. A grief stricken kangaroo cradles the head of a dead female next to her joey photographed by Evan Switzer on a bushland property in River Heads, Queensland, Australia Between the sheets: A possum has been found bedding down inside a toilet roll holder in a public lavatory in Victoria, Australia. Thankfully, rangers were able to gently extract the 'sitting tenant' and rehome it in a tree-based nesting box. Twiggy the waterskiing squirrel performs during the 2016 Toronto International Boat Show at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada Britain's biggest dog, 18-month-old great Dane, Freddy seen here realxing on the sofa with its owner Claire Stoneman at their home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Canine colossus Freddy has been measured at 7ft 4in (2.24m) on his hind legs by Claire. Although no official measurement has yet been made, that would make Freddy as tall as world-record holder Zeus, and significantly larger than Britain's current biggest dog Samson, who is 6ft 6in (1.98m). A giraffe in the Mkhuze Game Reserve, South Africa, chews on an animal bone in order to extract minerals Watch the birdie: A gull seems to be taking some interest in its reflection in the thin layer of ice on Lake Maschsee in Hannover, Germany