Pro-democracy protesters dressed in traditional Thai costumes take part in an anti-government rally in Bangkok on October 14, 2020. (Photo by Jack Taylor/AFP Photo)

A bronze statue of late singer Ella Fitzgerald is seen wearing a hat and protective face mask, as the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, outside the Metro-North Railroad Station Plaza in Yonkers, New York, U.S., November 17, 2020. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

A grey heron is seen at the Sempione park, after Lombardy was downgraded from a red to an orange zone, loosening the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions including allowing non-essential shops to re-open, in Milan, Italy, April 13, 2021. (Photo by Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters)

A Vietnamese woman collects dried incense sticks at a courtyard in Quang Phu Cau village on the outskirts of Hanoi on January 9, 2020 ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations, referred to in Vietnam as Tet. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)

Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

A woman prays as she touches the carcass of a male elephant after he, according to forest officials, was electrocuted early morning in a paddy field on the outskirts of Guwahati, India, June 20, 2017. (Photo by Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters)

A boatman rests on his boat in the flooded Ganges river under the Shastri bridge at Daraganj Ghat, in Allahabad, India on August 22, 2019. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)