A one and a half months old baby elephant stands close to its mother at Chitwan National Park in Chitwan, south of Kathmandu December 30, 2014. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

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)

A small flock of birds seems to be giving an escort to an airliner on final approach to Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on January 12, 2022. The scene took place over Gravelly Point which is an area within the National Park Service's George Washington Memorial Parkway. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

A black bear cub performs for its mum at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife park in North Carolina, US in January 2022. (Photo by Jennifer Hadley/Animal News Agency)

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, 36, who was an illegal logger turned forest protector poses at Phong Nha National Park, Quang Binh province, Vietnam on April 8, 2022. (Photo by Hoang Trung/Reuters)

Visitors watch a California sea lion at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park on Thursday May 26, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

Forest guards chase away a rhino that strayed into a residential area after floods forced animals to escape the Kaziranga National park in Nagaon district, in the northeastern state of Assam, August 15, 2017. (Photo by Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters)

Giraffes cross under the bridge of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line inside the Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, Kenya, May 25, 2020. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)