Jaison Vargas, crocodile tour guide, takes a picture of an American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) during a tour at the Tarcoles river, in Tarcoles, Garabito municipality, Costa Rica, on March 31, 2022. Crocodile tours in the estuary of the Tarcoles River are a popular attraction for visitors to Costa Rica's Pacific coast, as the area gets back on its feet after being shaken by the pandemic. The river is home to nearly 500 species of birds and some 2,000 American crocodiles, many of which have been named after famous people. (Photo by Luis Acosta/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)

An adult female Masai giraffe rears on its hind legs as it resists efforts by Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) rangers to guide it into a transportation crate using ropes during an exercise to translocate large herbivores from Kedong Ranch due to land subdivisions and corralling that have disrupted wildlife migratory routes in Naivasha, Nakuru County, on November 16, 2025. Driven by two long ropes held by about twenty rangers, the blindfolded giraffe enters a tall trailer that is to transport it out of its natural habitat in the Rift Valley, which is deteriorating after having been resold. This is the first step in a meticulous relocation operation in the vast Kedong ranch, part of an ancestral corridor between Mount Longonot and Hell's Gate Park, near the iconic Lake Naivasha. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP Photo)

Lisandra Perez, 7, practices in his house before his flute lesson at the Integral System of Artistic Education for Social Inclusion (SIFAIS) center in the poor neighborhood of La Carpio, Costa Rica October 8, 2015. SIFAIS center is developing a social program with the help of 156 volunteers who teach art, music, sports and education, for children and youth living in La Carpio, known for being the home to gangs, violence, drugs and social vulnerability, according to the centre. (Photo by Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

Girls, who are part of Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children (MMCC), participate in a juggling competition in Kabul, Afghanistan August 12, 2015. The MMCC, founded by David Mason from Denmark, teaches cooperation and creativity to children scarred by years of war in Afghanistan. Despite the dangers, the project has grown so popular that it now runs centres in ten provinces and has hundreds of regular students. The circus makes visits to internally displaced persons' camps, schools, orphanages, and holds annual festivals. The children are taught the skills of juggling clubs, walking on stilts and acrobatics. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

In this Saturday, March 21, 2015 photo, a porter rests carrying supplies for the upcoming climbing season, near the Everest Base camp, Nepal. Nepal has cleared more than 300 mountaineers to climb Mount Everest after they had to abandon last year's efforts when an ice avalanche killed 16 guides in the mountain's deadliest disaster, an official said on March 20. The three-month climbing season for Everest, the world's tallest mountain, begins in March. (Photo by Tashi Sherpa/AP Photo)

Sheep walk as they are herded to summer pastures in Serra da Estrela, near Seia, Portugal June 27, 2015. In late June, shepherds young and old in the Seia region of central Portugal start guiding sheep, goats and cattle to the Serra da Estrela, the country’s highest mountains, in search of better pastures. There they stay until the end of September. Modern-day shepherds may have mobile phones to keep in touch with family and friends, but their lifestyle has changed little for centuries. The sound of cowbells and the bark of longhaired mastiffs starts early in the morning as the animals – often decorated with traditional woollen balls on their horns – are herded up steep, narrow paths. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

“There are over 680 documented species of the sac fungus genus Ophiocordyceps, and one of the best known of these is Ophiocordyceps sinensis, colloquially known as caterpillar fungus. The fungus is known in Tibetan as yartsa gunbu or yatsa gunbu. O. sinensis is known in the West as a medicinal mushroom and its use has a long history in Traditional Chinese medicine as well as Traditional Tibetan medicine. The highly valuable fungus-caterpillar combination is hand-collected and is used as an aphrodisiac and as a treatment for a variety of ailments from fatigue to cancer”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Nomads dig for Chinese caterpillar fungus from a mountain May 25, 2007 in Guide County, Hainan Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. Nomads can earn about 2,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan (about U.S. $260 to $653 ) through their work during the fifty-day Chinese caterpillar fungus gathering season. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)