“Danger in the mud” – a crocodile at Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe. The grand prize winner. (Photo by Jens Cullmann/World Nature Photography Awards 2022)

The Lantern Festival in Seoul, South Korea, celebrates Buddha’s birthday. Buddha was born approximately 2,557 years ago; the exact date is unknown, but Buddha’s official birthday is celebrated on the full moon in May in South Korea, which is May 17 this year. Photo: Buddhists march on the street as they prepare for the buddha's birthday in Seoul. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun)

A dog named Izzy licks its chops as Craig Morland of Crofton, Maryland, buys a bucket of Thrashers famous fries on the first day of eased coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions for the beach and boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, U.S., May 9, 2020. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Black Winged Stilt is seen on Kavak Delta, a natural and ecologically important wetland for many migratory birds, in Canakkale, Turkiye on May 13, 2025. (Photo by Alper Tuydes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

In this Sunday, August 5, 2012 file photo South Africa's Oscar Pistorius starts in the men's semi-finals of the 400-meter in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London. Pistorius could be granted parole on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023 after nearly 10 years in prison for killing his girlfriend. The double-amputee Olympic runner was convicted of a charge comparable to third-degree murder for shooting Reeva Steenkamp in his home in 2013. He has been in prison since late 2014. (Photo by Anja Niedringhaus/AP Photo)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

Residents (R to L) Luiza, Janubie, Leiticia and Lucas sit beneath an overpass near their houses in an impoverished area in the unpacified Complexo da Mare slum complex, one of the largest “favela” complexes in Rio, on March 18, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A traditional game that earned hollers from the crowd saw a male rider gallop after a young woman, stretching for a kiss. Only a handful of the men managed the risky peck before the young women turned the tables and thundered after the men with whips in hand. (Photo by Amos Chapple/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)