Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

Attendees at Wizard World Comic Con walk through hallways in Chicago, Illinois, United States, August 22, 2015. (Photo by Jim Young/Reuters)

A general view of the Drax Power Station, illuminated in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, in North Yorkshire, Britain on April 1, 2022. (Photo by Lee Smith/Reuters)

A woman poses for a picture next to a caterpillar-tracked Bentley Continental GT, which was modified by Russian car engineering enthusiasts, during a demonstration in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 7, 2019. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

Heimana Reynolds of USA in action during a training session prior to the World Skate Park World Championships at the Parque Candido Portin​ari in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 11 September 2019. (Photo by Sebastião Moreira/EPA/EFE)

An old car passes by while dark clouds are seen due to the tropical storm Idalia in Havana, on August 28, 2023. (Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP Photo)

A green jumping spider (Lyssomanes viridis), in a forested area of Cerro de la Muerte, in San Jose, Costa Rica, 20 May 2025. International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated every 22 May around the world. (Photo by Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA/EFE)

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia perform during Gala exhibition skating program of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Graz, Austria, 26 January 2020. (Photo by Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA/EFE)