Children play with their pet Hamster at a street in Kochi on March 29, 2021. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Pakistan fans during the first one day international match at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Thursday, July 8, 2021. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)

A 2 year old cattle dog emerges from the water after retrieving a ball during the 2nd Annual Rio Grande Doggy Paddle held at the Rio Grande Pool, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA on September 12, 2021. (Photo by Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal via ZUMA/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Russian fashion model Irina Shayk bares it all while getting ready for the Rio Carnival parade in Brazil early March 2025. (Photo by irinashayk/Instagram)

A man walks around while praying in front of lotus lanterns attached to prayer petitions at Jogye temple in Seoul, South Korea, on May 8, 2024. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

A dragon dance takes place at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, where people celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most cherished traditional festivals in Chinese culture, symbolising family reunions, gratitude, and the appreciation of the full moon on Sunday, September 15, 2024. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images)

Bikini Contest in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. (Photo by Evan Hurd/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)