A Maasai boy bites a bull's heart during an initiation into an age group ceremony near the town of Bisil, Kajiado county, Kenya, August 23, 2018. Thousands of Kenyan boys had a blessing of milk and beer sprayed on them as part of a rare Maasai ethnic community initiation ceremony to mark their passing into early manhood. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Children play marbles on the dirt in Garut, West Java, Indonesia on October 17, 2025. This traditional game, which was popular in the 1980s, is now rarely played by children due to the increasing popularity of modern games with advanced technology. According to a survey by the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), more than 71.3% of school-age children own gadgets and play them for a considerable amount of time each day, and as many as 79% of child respondents are allowed to play gadgets for purposes other than learning. (Photo by Algi Febri Sugita/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Behaviour: Mammals category. Giant Gathering by Tony Wu, USA. Dozens of sperm whales mingled noisily off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, stacked as far down as Tony could see. This was a congregation of dozens of social units, like a gathering of the clans. Aggregations like this could be a critical part of the whales’ rich social lives but are rarely reported. Some two thirds of the population was wiped out before commercial whaling was banned in 1986. This kind of major gathering could be “a sign that populations are recovering”, says Tony. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017)

“Belarus riot police detained scores of demonstrators at a protest rally against President Alexander Lukashenko. Rallies against Lukashenko's rule are rare in the tightly-policed ex-Soviet republic, but protest calls on social networking sites have multiplied in recent weeks as a severe currency crisis has brought economic hardship. Demonstrators gathered peacefully, simply applauding in a coordinated act of protest”. – Af.Reuters.com (Photo by Anton Motolko; Belarus, Minsk; June 22, 2011)

Women walk at lunch time along Kings Road in Chelsea during Storm Eunice, in London, Britain, February 18, 2022. Britain put the army on standby Friday and schools closed as forecasters issued two rare “red weather” warnings of “danger to life” from fearsome winds and flooding due to the approaching storm Eunice. (Photo by Kevin Coombs/Reuters)

The mystifying flow of motion. We can rarely appreciate its beauty. Though there are ways to capture it on film, allowing us to marvel at its complexity. Stephen Orlando is a photographer who takes pleasure highlighting the magnificence of aquatic sports by using the brilliance of light. The beauty of the images that he creates comes not only from the composition of the photo, but also from the way Stephen managed to show the color transitions between each stroke of the kayaker. Even the rapids do not stand in the way of the marvelous dance of light. (Photo by Stephen Orlando)

There is nothing more endearing than seeing true friendship and love. Especially, if it as improbable as that of a big dog and a tiny kitten. Somehow, animals feel when they are dealing with a baby. For example, no matter how much a toddler will tug on the tail of a cat and play roughly with it, it will never or very rarely fight back. This set of pictures taken by Jessie Pon shows a tiny kitten mistaking an adult golden retriever for his mother. Though it may hurt the dog’s nose with its sharp claws, the dog does nothing to harm the kitty. On the contrary, it’s watching over the kitty-cat as if it were her own puppy. (Photo by Jessie Pon)

Yoandri Hernandez Garrido, 37, proudly displays his 12 fingers in Baracoa, Guantanamo province, Cuba. His condition, known as polydactyly, is relatively common, but it's rare for extra digits to be so perfect.

Polydactyly or polydactylism (from Ancient Greek πολύς (polus) "many" + δάκτυλος (daktulos) "finger"), also known as hyperdactyly, is a congenital physical anomaly in humans, dogs, and cats having supernumerary fingers or toes. Polydactyly is the opposite of oligodactyly (fewer fingers or toes).