Among the fish populations that could be harmed by the Xayaburi dam in Laos is the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the world’s largest freshwater fish. The fish, which grows to 650 pounds and about 10 feet long, is only found in the Mekong River. It is migratory, moving between downstream habitats in Cambodia upstream to northern Thailand and Laos each year to spawn. Some experts fear the Xayaburi dam could block the migration and drive the giant catfish to extinction. (Photo by Courtesy of Zeb Hogan/University of Nevada, Reno)

Transgender Kendra Ferrari, 21, performs during Miss Night Queen beauty contest in Guatemala City, Friday, June 15, 2012. Ferrari won the pageant and will represent the transgender community for one year. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

A conscript hugs a girl as he says goodbye to family members at a local railway station during departure for the garrisons, in Sevastopol, Crimea on November 9, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters)

Elementary school sumo wrestlers compete in the sumo ring during the Wanpaku sumo-wrestling tournament in Tokyo, Japan on October 29, 2022. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A woman walks near a bus on fire as supporters of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro protest after supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered a temporary arrest warrant of indigenous leader Jose Acacio Serere Xavante for alleged anti-democratic acts, in Brasilia, Brazil on December 12, 2022. (Photo by Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

A sushi restaurant staff member holds the cut tail of the auctioned 212-kilogram Bluefin tuna after the New Year's first auction of the Toyosu Market, at the Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera in Tokyo, Japan, 05 January 2023. Yukitaka Yamaguchi, president of wholesaler Yamayuki, and the company operating the Sushi Ginza Onodera restaurants, secured the first tuna auction of the New Year with a bid of almost 257,000 euros (36.04 million Japanese Yen). (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)

A greedy wild elephant shunned jungle leaves and instead stopped passing trucks to steal sugarcane. The 35-year-old jumbo nicknamed “Fatty” by locals emerged from the forest on a road in Chachoengsao province, Thailand, on December 29, 2022. (Photo by Au Wanapin/ViralPress)

Re-enactors use flaming torches to write 2023 during the Flamborough Fire Festival, a Viking themed parade in aid of charities and local community groups held on New Year’s Eve on December 31, 2022. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Wire via Getty Images)