Kea are the only true alpine parrots in the world and thrive as cunning opportunists in the freezing conditions of the Southern Alps. Kea are thought to have developed their wide array of food-finding strategies during the last great ice age, where they learned to adapt using their unusual powers of curiosity. (Photo by Tom Walker/BBC Pictures/The Guardian)

Honourable mention, Behaviour category. Toss the scorpion – Indian roller playing with its kill by Susmita Datta. The image was taken during an early morning safari drive at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in India. (Photo by Susmita Datta/PA Wire/Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2017)

A newly hatched chick cuddles up to its mother at Santee Lakes near San Diego, California in May 2023. (Photo by Tammy Kokjohn/Solent News)

“This quirky collection of photos proves that a little imagination is the key to a good a picture. By simply using a collection of keys and a strip of chalk, photographer, Stanislav Aristov, 32, is able to re-create everyday scenes and objects. Stanislav wanted to show that even the simplest of items can help change your view on the world. After acquiring a large selection of keys from friends and family as well as local charity shops, Stanislav then went about scrawling anything from a key shaped rain drops to a key-eyed crab”. – Caters News. Photo: A man walking his dog in a park made using chalk and keys. (Photo by Stanislav Aristov/Caters News)

A poster by street artist Aaron Li-Hill as part of the "Brandalism" project is displayed at a bus stop in Paris, France, November 28, 2015, ahead of the United Nations COP21 Climate Change conference in Paris. Brandalism is a revolt against corporate control of the visual realm. Following on in the guerilla art traditions of the 20th Century and taking inspiration from Agitprop, Situationist and Street Art movements, the Brandalism project sees artists from around the world collaborate to challenge the authority and legitimacy of commercial images within public space and within our culture. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

The Malabar Giant squirrel – double the size of their grey relatives and measuring up to 36 inches (91.5 cm) from head to tail – lives deep in the forests of India. The athletic animals can leap an incredible 20 feet (6 m) between trees. Photographer Kaushik Vijayan, 39, snapped the animals in their native habit to produce these stunning images. Kaushik, from Kerala State, India, said: “Up until that point I had never heard about a squirrel like that or seen one. The sight was an absolute feast for my eyes. The squirrels fascinated me and I got excited to capture this beauty on my camera”. (Photo by Kaushik Vijayan/South West News Service)

The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

A vendor (C) cuts slaughtered dogs for sale at his roadside stall in Duong Noi village, outside Hanoi December 16, 2011. While animal rights activists have condemned eating dog meat as cruel treatment of the animals, it is still an accepted popular delicacy for some Vietnamese, as well in some other Asian countries. Duong Noi is well-known as a dog-meat village, where hundreds of dogs are killed each day for sale as popular traditional food. Dog-eating as a custom is rooted in Vietnam and was developed as a result of poverty. One kilogram of dog meat costs about 130,000 dongs ($6.2). (Photo by Reuters/Kham)