Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh practicing his bicycle polo technique, Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, 1964. (Photo by Norman Potter/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Men wearing masks and dressed as military members take part in a festival honouring San Silvestre, in the town of Catarina, Nicaragua January 1, 2016. The placard reads, “I'm not afraid, young people off the streets, Ortega you sell our country”, in reference Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)
Several new species of peacock spider – just a few millimetres long and featuring extraordinary colours – have been discovered in Western Australia and South Australia. Jürgen Otto, a biologist from Sydney, has been researching the arachnids since 2005, and has gained a significant following online with his footage. He believes there are now 48 confirmed species of peacock spider within the Maratus genus, found across Australia but particularly in Western Australia – and many more awaiting confirmation. Here: Maratus Tasmanicus, one of seven new species of peacock spiders studied by the Sydney biologist Jürgen Otto. (Photo by Jürgen Otto)
North Korean children wave to people on a Chinese tourist boat on the banks of Yalu River near the Chongsong county of North Korea, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 8, 2011. (Photo by Jacky Chen/Reuters)
A dramatic rise in owning exotic pets in China is fuelling global demand for threatened species. The growing trade in alligators, snakes, monkeys, crocodiles and spiders is directly linked to species loss in some of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Here: A fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is groomed in a pet store in central Beijing. Native to the Sahara in North Africa, the species became a popular pet after being depicted as a character in Disney’s 2016 animated movie Zootopia. Individuals can cost between $2,000–$3,000. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/The Guardian)
Students of the Krasnoyarsk choreographic college Anastasia Shevtsova (R) and Yulia Lyakhovykh do leg-splits as they study for an exam and a performance by the graduates at the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet, at the college's campus in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, May 4, 2017. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)