Grand prize winner: environmental photographer of the year 2023; also 1st place in the humanity v nature category; and winner of the 2023 public award. Lopé national park, Gabon, 2021. An angry elephant tries to defend itself after it was hit by a train that crosses paths the animals use within Lopé national park. Park officials decided the elephant was too severely injured to be saved. After it was killed, the park director distributed the meat to local people. As the forest loses its carrying capacity to sustain its megafauna, this kind of human-wildlife conflict is increasing. (Photo by Jasper Doest/Environmental Photography Award)

Chinese epidemic control workers wear protective suits as they disinfect each other after performing nucleic acid swab test for COVID-19 on citizens at a government testing site in Xicheng District during an organized tour on June 24, 2020 in Beijing, China. While Chinese government medical officials have said they believe they have controlled the spread, authorities are trying to contain the outbreak linked to the Xinfadi wholesale food market, Beijing's biggest supplier of produce and meat. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A devotee of the Chinese Ban Tha Rue shrine walks with guns pierced through his cheeks during a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand, October 17, 2015. The festival, featuring face-piercing, spirit mediums and strict vegetarianism celebrates the local Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Afghan dogs fight during the weekly dog fight in Kabul, Afghanistan, 17 February 2017. Under the Taliban dog fighting was forbidden, but since their fall it has become a major source of entertainment for hundreds of Afghans, where bets can amount to thousands of dollars and the dogs, which must be over one year old, are well-cared for by their owners and fed milk, butter and meat. (Photo by Hedayatullah Amid/EPA)

A Hong Kong Vegetarian Society activists lies on a giant plate alongside oversized peas, carrots and cutlery during a protest rally in the tourist district of Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, China, 23 December 2015. The activists urged passers-by to extend the holiday spirit to animals and to give thoughts to the cruelty inflicted on animals in meat productions. (Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA)

A fisherman carries a large Pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) at the Piagacu-Purus Sustainable Development Reserve in Amazonas state, Brazil, on October 24, 2019. The pirarucu -a giant fish of the Amazon, that had been on the verge of extinction- can measure up to three meters and weigh more than 200 kilos. The soft and tasty white meat fish is nowadays served in renowned restaurants in Rio de Janeiro. (Photo by Ricardo Oliveira/AFP Photo)

David Pariken 46, of the indigenous Maasai community, roasts meat at the inaugural Maa Cultural Week dubbed The Maa-Festival aimed to promote peace, tourism, and cultural exchange as the wildebeests (Connochaetes taurinus) make their annual cross border migration at the Sekenani village, in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, in Narok County, Kenya on August 22, 2023. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

“Most cats run away at the first sign of water but this jaguar shows that some just love to make a splash. The fierce-looking feline was spotted doing an impressive moggy paddle as it swam for meat at Taman Safari in Indonesia. The spectacular shots were captured by professional photographer, Erfin Nugroho, who was visiting the centre for endangered animals with his family”. – Richard Hartley-Parkinson. (Photo by Erfin Nugroho/Caters News)