A French bulldog wears a costume at the annual Pet Expo 2021 in Bangkok, Thailand on November 25, 2021. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Medical staff administering the dose of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine at the M A G Osmani Medical College & Hospital vaccination center in Sylhet, Bangladesh on July 26, 2021. (Photo by Md Rafayat Haque Khan/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A girl jumps over a campfire while celebrating Ivan Kupala Night, a traditional Slavic holiday not far from Kiev on July 6, 2013. During the celebration, originating in pagan times, people plait wreaths, jump over fires, and swim naked. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)

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)

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 Godson family had faced eviction over neighbours' complaints about the birds squawking and swearing. Now, after the family were targeted in a drive-by smoke-bomb attack over the birds they have upped and moved 200 miles from Hemel Hempstead, Herts, to Minehead, Somerset. And their pets join in their new idyllic coastal life – by walking along the beach with them on May 9, 2023. (Photo by Neil Hope/The Sun)

Japanese professional wrestler Hiromu Takahashi attends a promotional event of a dinosaur show “Dino Safari Gigant” in Tokyo on Wednesday, August 2, 2023. A dinosaur show using dinosaur shaped mrchanical suits will be performed in Yokohama from August 10. (Photo by Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman dressed in pagan attire watches the sun rise during the Summer Solstice festivities at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. After two years of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stonehenge reopened Monday for the Summer Solstice celebrations. (Photo by Andrew Matthews/PA Wire via AP Photo)