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)

Afghan wrestlers compete in a bout of traditional mud wrestling competition during the Friday weekend at a field in Chaman-e- Huzuri ground in Kabul on October 21, 2022. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

A bee and a red squirrel eyeball each other in the winning entry of the Mammal Society’s annual photography contest, taken by Gary Watson from Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands. (Photo by Gary Watson/Mammal Society/Bav Media)

Women pray at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in the early hours of April 6, 2024, on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), one of the holiest nights during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo by Ryan Lim/AFP Photo)

Workers unload baskets of sand from ships in Gabtoli Launch Ghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh in the first decade of February 2025. (Photo by Rakibul alam Khan/Solent News)

Poland's Piotr Lisek reacts after competing in the men's pole vault qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on July 31, 2021. (Photo by Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters)

A lake in a shape of a heart is seen surrounded by autumn-coloured trees outside Balashikha, Moscow region, Russia on October 4, 2021. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Students in Aone’s elementary school during break in between the class on April 9, 2015. The school has only six students, two of whom are from the same family. Similarly small schools can be found throughout Japan. (Photo by Ko Sasaki/The Washington Post)