View of a raccoon dog or Tanuki (Nyctereutes procyonoides) at the Chapultpec Zoo in Mexico City on August 06, 2015. This species is native from Japan and China. (Photo by Alfredo Estrella/AFP Photo)

Van cat walks in the snow in Yuzuncu Yil University's “cat villa” where they are carefully cared, in Van, Turkiye on January 21, 2022. One of the most important symbols of Van province of Turkiye endangered Van cats are taken under protection at the Van Cat Research and Application Center of Yuzuncu Yil University. They have been the subject of many scientific studies with their unique characteristics. Efforts are continuing to protect the extinction of the Van cat, which is known for its sensuality, friendliness, white silky fur, lion's walk, fluffy tail, different eye colors and fondness for water. (Photo by Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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)

This handout picture taken and released by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) on October 26, 2015 shows baby orangutans, which had previously suffered from respiratory problems, playing at a nursery in the rehabilitation centre operated by the BOSF on the outskirts of Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan. Endangered orangutans are falling victim to a devastating haze crisis that has left them sick, malnourished and severely traumatised as fires rage through Indonesia's forests, reducing their habitat to a charred wasteland. (Photo by AFP Photo/Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation/Indrayana)

A newly-hatched baby sea turtle makes its way into the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, as part of the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center's conservation program, at a beach near Mikhmoret north of Tel Aviv, Israel September 9, 2019. Green turtles are endangered worldwide, the World Wildlife Fund says. Among other hazards, they are threatened by hunting, human encroachment on the beaches where they nest, and pollution of their feeding grounds offshore. According to the Israeli rescue center, only about 20 female green turtles nest along the Israeli Mediterranean coast during a breeding season that usually lasts from May until August. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

Hornets are insects that are the largest eusocial wasps. Some species can reach up to 5.5 cm (2.2 in) in length. The true hornets make up the genus Vespa and are distinguished from other vespines by the width of the vertex (part of the head behind the eyes), which is proportionally larger in Vespa and by the anteriorly rounded gasters (the section of the abdomen behind the wasp waist). The best known species is the European hornet (Vespa crabro), about 2–3.5 cm in length, widely distributed throughout Europe, Russia, North America and Northeast Asia.

Tip turkey, dumpster chook, rubbish raptor – the Australian white ibis goes by many unflattering names. But it is a true urban success story, scavenging to survive in cities across Australia as wetlands have been lost. Wildlife photographer Rick Stevens captured them in Sydney. Here: Of all the species affected by river regulation in Australia, the ibis is one of the few that has changed its behaviour and moved to coastal cities. (Photo by Rick Stevens/The Guardian)

A stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) is seen perched on a tree during monsoon rain on July 25, 2016 in Bintan, Indonesia. The stork-billed kingfisher is a tree species which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. This kingfisher is resident throughout its range. It is very large, measuring 35 to 38 cm (14 to 15 in) in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and grey head. (Photo by Sijori Images/Barcroft Images)