Competitors take part in the International Medieval Combat Federation World Championships at Scone Palace on May 10, 2018 in Perth, Scotland. Thousands of visitors are expected to attend the crowning place of Scottish Kings, Scone Palace for the IMCF World Championships which has five hundred competitors and officials from all over the world, from the UK to as far afield as Australia, South Africa and Mexico. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

“The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is most common in the southern hemisphere along the coast of Antarctica and on most sub-Antarctic islands, but can also be found on the coasts of southern Australia, Tasmania, South Africa, New Zealand, Lord Howe Island, Tierra del Fuego, the Cook Islands, and the Atlantic coast of South America. It can live twenty-six years, possibly more. Orcas and large sharks are the only natural predators of leopard seals”. – Wikipedia

Photo by: Gilad Rom; Source: Flickr

A member of Four Paws International team carries a pelican to be taken out of Gaza, at a zoo in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip August 23, 2016. Fifteen animals including a bengal tiger were removed from “the world’s worst zoo” in the Gaza town of Khan Younis as it was finally closed down. Animal welfare group, Four Paws International, will help bring most of the refugees to a zoo in Jordan, but the tiger will be taken to a refuge in South Africa. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

This cute elephant calf was spotted after it got stuck in a pool of water and required a helping trunk from its mum to get out. The young calf looked like it was having an incredible time however, as it frolicked about in the water and could have done with some waterproofs to boot. But mum clearly knew best with her tot, when she wrapped her trunk around the youngsters body and hoisted it out of the pool. The incident which took place on the Chobe River, Botswana, was captured by Neal Cooper, 50, a professional photographer from South Africa. (Photo by Neal Cooper/Caters News)

Bloodthirsty by Thomas P. Peschak, Germany/South Africa — winner, Behaviour: birds. When rations run short on Wolf Island, in the remote northern Galápagos, the sharp-beaked ground finches become vampires. Their sitting targets are Nazca boobies and other large birds. The finches rely on a scant diet of seeds and insects, which regularly dries up, so they drink blood to survive. ‘I’ve seen more than half a dozen finches drinking from a single Nazca booby,’ says Tom. Rather than leave their nests the boobies tolerate the vampires, and the blood loss doesn’t seem to cause permanent harm. (Photo by Thomas P. Peschak/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

In this Sunday, August 5, 2012 file photo South Africa's Oscar Pistorius starts in the men's semi-finals of the 400-meter in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London. Pistorius could be granted parole on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 after nearly 10 years in prison for killing his girlfriend. The double-amputee Olympic runner was convicted of a charge comparable to third-degree murder for shooting Reeva Steenkamp in his home in 2013. He has been in prison since late 2014. (Photo by Anja Niedringhaus/AP Photo)

Turkana boys play with rifles in a village inside the Turkana region of the Ilemi Triangle, northwest Kenya December 21, 2014. The Ilemi Triangle is a disputed region in East Africa, claimed by South Sudan and Kenya, bordering also Ethiopia. The dispute arose from unclear wording of a 1914 treaty which tried to allow free movement of the Turkana people, nomadic herders who had traditionally grazed the area. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

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)