A villager pours brine into troughs at ancient salt fields on May 5, 2005 in Yantian Village on Hainan Island, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)
Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)
The sun bear (Ursus malayanus), also known as the honey bear, is a bear found primarily in the tropical rainforest (the dense lowland forests) in Southeast Asia; North-East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southern China, Peninsular Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
Paul Doherty of Australia with tatoo against Timothy Mareke of Solomon Island during the men's 75kg class at the Sydney International Invitation Boxing held at the Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia.
A young female polar bear came to the vessel, which was stopped and shut down in fast ice on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. She was playing right in front of cameras entertaining people.
Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars found in the North Sound of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. It is a tourist attraction, where southern stingrays are found in abundance and visitors can pet and interact with the animals.