Armed police officers and soldiers strengthen their training in seawater in Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Province, China on July 24, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Aerial view of people circling around bonfires to celebrate the Torch Festival on Axilixi Prairie on August 12, 2023 in Bijie, Guizhou Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

A two-week-old hoglet finds an unusual spot to sit at the Happy Hedgehogs rescue centre in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire in the second decade of September 2023. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times)

Divers perform during an event to celebrate the upcoming Christmas at the aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, December 1, 2023. Christmas is one of the biggest holidays celebrated in South Korea. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

A Pakistani Hindu bride attends a mass marriage ceremony in Karachi, Pakistan, 07 January 2024. The Pakistan Hindu Council organized the mass wedding ceremony for 122 Hindu couples belonging to poorer classes. (Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA/EFE)

People are walking with umbrellas on a snow-covered street during the first snowfall of the year in Tokyo, Japan, on February 5, 2024. (Photo by Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

College students dress in the guise of Hindu deities Krishna and Radha, ahead of Janmashtami festival, in Chennai on August 23, 2024. (Photo by R.Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

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)