From left, Oscar winners Adrien Brody, Mikey Madison, Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin share a moment together in the Academy Awards press room on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Brody and Madison won best actor and best actress. Saldaña and Culkin won for supporting roles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Photo)

Breath of an Arctic fox by Marco Gaiotti, Italy. Marco was watching this little Arctic fox as it incessantly called another nearby. Gradually he noticed the fox’s wet breath was quickly freezing in the air after each call. It was late winter in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and the air was -35C (-31F). Photographing Arctic foxes is often frustrating, as they are normally running around fast in search of food, but this one was very relaxed and let Marco get close enough to focus on it, with the light glowing perfectly in the background. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)

“A huge wasp measuring 2.5 inches in length, visiting the banana tree in my front yard”. (Photo and comment by John Matzick, USA/2013 Sony World Photography Awards via The Atlantic)

A dog is kept at a pen at the newly opened Central Zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, August 23, 2016. One of the most popular attractions at the zoo might come as a surprise to foreign visitors. Just across the way from the hippopotamus pen and the reptile house, dozens of varieties of dogs, including schnauzers, German shepherds, Shih Tzus and Saint Bernards – are on display in the “dog pavilion”. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

Horrified animal welfare groups fear baby sharks kept as a bizarre attraction in a brothel have been eaten – by the landlord. Shocking videos show the the fish crammed into an aquarium illuminated with red lights hanging above s*x works at a seedy “gentlemen's club” in, Bangkok Thailand. Five exotic black tip sharks – which can grow up to 8.5ft – float in the filthy water while holidaymakers take their pick of women in skimpy dresses. The deadly fish were just one form on entertainment employed by the establishment in the Thai capital Bangkok. (Photo by SWNS.com)

“Honorable Mention”. An Indian rhinoceros, far from home and stuck inside with late-winter blues at the Toronto zoo. Photo location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo and caption by Stephen De Lisle/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Robot Xian'er is placed in the main building of Longquan Buddhist temple for photographs by the temple's staff, on the outskirts of Beijing, April 20, 2016. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)