M42 Subtle V1 cropped. One of the most well-known astronomical objects in our universe is the Orion Nebula and this image depicts the wider region of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that is its home. This complex also includes another popular target for astrophotographers, the Horsehead Nebula, as well as Barnard’s Loop and the Running Man Nebula, which can be seen to the left of this photograph. (Photo by Patrick Gilliland)
A baby rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) looks up as it plays with a tiger cub at a zoo in Hefei, Anhui province, August 2, 2012. (Photo by Jianan Yu/Reuters)
This Saturday, July 22, 2017 photo released by Tokyo Zoological Park Society, shows a giant panda cub at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. The baby panda, born in June, got a check up on Saturday. (Photo by Tokyo Zoological Park Society via AP Photo)
A squirrel and lizard both refuse to give way in an unlikely standoff on a wall in Mohali, India in the first decade of February 2024. (Photo by Anuj Jain/Solent news)
More than 1,500 snappers submitted their most hilarious pictures of all creatures great and small, and now 45 have made the cut. From drunken-eyed owls to embarrassed chipmunks and laughing goats – the finalists in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards are guaranteed to raise a smile. Here: 'Dancing sifaka'. (Photo by Alison Buttigieg/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards/Mercury Press)