Grand title winner: Environmental photographer of the year. The Bitter Death Of Birds by Mehdi Mohebi Pour. This photo shows the efforts of the environmental forces to collect the bodies and prevent the spread of this disease. The Miankaleh wetland is being destroyed by changes in the climate and it is my duty as a photographer to highlight these problems and create a record for history. I want to prevent the complete destruction of the wetland and the potential environmental disaster by showing the issues and threats to these beautiful natural places. (Photo by Mehdi Mohebi Pour/Environmental Photographer of the Year)

Tibetan monks in ghoulish costumes perform during a ceremony to chase away the “demon king” to bring peace and happiness for the Tibetan New Year at the Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing, Sunday, February 19, 2023. The annual event has returned after China lifted all bans on public gatherings from the outbreak of COVID-19. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

A technician disinfects official balls before the Group F Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2021 football match between Mauritania and Gambia at Limbe Omnisport Stadium in Limbe on January 12, 2022. (Photo by Issouf Sanogo/AFP Photo)

A girl plays with pigeons in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on February 24, 2023. (Photo by Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP Photo)

Two scavengers collect plastics in the Citarum river in Bandung, West Java on March 28, 2023. (Photo by Timur Matahari/AFP Photo)

A girl bathes her dog, next to her sister on a street of the San Agustin neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 3, 2023. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

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)

As if pulled from a Disney film, a fox is mesmerised by a butterfly hovering in front of its nose in a field in Taplow, Berkshire, South East England in the second decade of July 2023. (Photo by Ann Aveyard/Animal News Agency)