In more “raccoons are getting more like us” news, a drunk raccoon was found in a liquor store in Virginia, US in the first decade of December 2025. The animal had got into the shop via some loose ceiling tiles, knocked bottles of spirits off the shelves, lapped up the contents and passed out in the toilets. Once it had sobered up, it was released back into the wild – no doubt with a crashing hangover. (Photo by AP Photo)

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)

These photographs of hundreds of ducks following their leader down a river are truly mesmerizing. Rafeur Rahman of Bangladesh climbed a high bridge and saw hundreds of ducks apparently playing a game of follow the leader. More than 500 ducks live on the river, where the mosses and snails provide the perfect habitat. Here: Ducks in the river Baral in Bangladesh. (Photo by Rafeur Rahman/Caters News Agency)

A group of Maasai women march while dancing traditional songs during a Maasai cultural festival in Sekenani, on June 10, 2023. The Maasai people are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Maasai cultural festival is a popular gathering and celebration of the Maasai cultural heritage and aims to showcase the community's traditional activities and fashion. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)

The front wheels of a tractor, pulling a trailer overloaded with sugarcane, are seen lifted off the ground as it passes through the streets of Karor Lan Esan, Pakistan December 6, 2015. (Photo by Caren Firouz/Reuters)

A long time exposure shows a Igloo at the “Igloo village” (Iglu Dorf) in front of the famous Matterhorn mountain in Zermatt, Switzerland, late 28 January 2016. The hotel-igloo village made of snow and ice at 2'815 meters about sea level with a bar, a restaurant, bedrooms and wellness are celebrating their 20th anniversary. For this occasion the hosts built the largest classic igloo with a diameter of 13 meters and a ceiling hight of 11 meters in front of Matterhorn in Zermatt, and they will attempt the world record for this Igloo. (Photo by Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA)

A photo made available on 14 March 2016 shows a Thai villager takes selfie photograph on drought parched land at the dried up Mae Chang reservoir in Lampang province, northern Thailand, 12 March 2016. The ruined village including ancient temple had been underwater for 34 years since the Mae Chang reservoir was built in 1982, the area has now re-emerged after water in the reservoir dried up caused by the severe drought. Thailand is facing the worst drought in decades hardest hit by El Nino phenomenon combined with seasonal hot weather. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

A couple wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus walk on the Malecon seawall at sunset in Havana, Cuba, Monday, August 31, 2020. Cuban authorities will introduce new measures starting tomorrow Tuesday aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus in Havana among others a curfew from 7 pm until 5 am and no one without special permission will be able to enter or leave the province. The new measures will last at least 15 days. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)