Grand prize winner: environmental photographer of the year 2023; also 1st place in the humanity v nature category; and winner of the 2023 public award. Lopé national park, Gabon, 2021. An angry elephant tries to defend itself after it was hit by a train that crosses paths the animals use within Lopé national park. Park officials decided the elephant was too severely injured to be saved. After it was killed, the park director distributed the meat to local people. As the forest loses its carrying capacity to sustain its megafauna, this kind of human-wildlife conflict is increasing. (Photo by Jasper Doest/Environmental Photography Award)

Children watch a rabbit, jumping over a hurdle at an obstacle course the 5th Open Rabbit Sport Tournament (5. offene Kaninchensport Turnier) on August 28, 2011 in Rommerz near Fulda, Germany. Eighty rabbits competed in light-weight, middle-weight and jumping-for-points categories at today's tournament in Rommerz that is based on Kanin Hop, or Rabbit Hopping. Rabbit Hopping is a growing trend among pet rabbit owners in Central Europe and the first European Championships are scheduled to be held later this year in Switzerland. (Photo by Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images)

Residents wade through flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Beaumont Place, Houston, Texas on August 28, 2017. Houston was still largely paralyzed Monday, and there was no relief in sight from the storm that spun into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, then parked itself over the Gulf Coast. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)

Eryn, owned by Tom Chudleigh in Canada. New global research has revealed that ‘shed-scapism’ is sweeping the world with more people than ever ditching their tools and transforming their sheds into zen dens. The research comes as the Cuprinol Shed of the Year competition joins forces with aspirational shed fan site, Cabin p*rn, to launch the first ever global category. We have a stunning suite of imagery of 9 sheds from across the world - from Norway to Slovenia, British Colombia to Colorado who have all submitted their sheds in the hopes of being crowned the first ever Global Shed of the Year. (Photo by Cuprinol/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Behaviour: Mammals category. Giant Gathering by Tony Wu, USA. Dozens of sperm whales mingled noisily off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, stacked as far down as Tony could see. This was a congregation of dozens of social units, like a gathering of the clans. Aggregations like this could be a critical part of the whales’ rich social lives but are rarely reported. Some two thirds of the population was wiped out before commercial whaling was banned in 1986. This kind of major gathering could be “a sign that populations are recovering”, says Tony. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017)

Vincent Yu is a multiple award winner who won Honorable Mention in the 2013 Photographer of the Year category for Pictures of the Year International. Photo: A statue of Hotei Buddha sits in the debris in the tsunami-destroyed town of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan Friday, April 1, 2011. (Photo by Vincent Yu/AP Photo)

One of the highlights on the Audi stand is the bicycle technology concept known as the Audi e-bike Wörthersee – a sport bike that does not fit into any of the usual categories. It is neither a pedelec nor a conventional bike, but is best described as a high-end pedelec made by Audi for sport, fun and tricks. The Audi e-bike Wörthersee combines the Audi brand’s principal competences – design, ultra, connect and e-tron – and explores the limits of what is technically feasible in terms of design, lightweight construction, networking and electric mobility.

A contestant of the World Beard And Mustache Championships poses for a picture during the opening ceremony of the Championships 2015 on October 3, 2015 in Leogang, Austria. Over 300 contestants in teams from across the globe have come to compete in sixteen different categories in three groups: mustache, partial beard and full beard. The event takes place every few years at different locations worldwide. (Photo by Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images)