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)

Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan on January 25, 2020. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists on January 25 to the epicentre of a spiralling viral outbreak that has killed 41 people and spread around the world, as millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

Palestinian demonstrators take cover during clashes with Israeli soldiers following a protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the village of Kfar Qaddum in the occupied West Bank, near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim, on December 9 2022. (Photo by Zain Jaafar/AFP Photo)

Minoru Suzuki and Sanshiro Takagi, wrestlers from Japanese professional wrestling promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling, fight inside Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Nagoya during a wrestling show in Japan on September 18, 2023, in this handout photo released by JR Tokai (The Central Japan Railway Company). (Photo by JR Tokai/Handout via Reuters)

A plane drops water to put out the fire broke out yesterday in a grassy area in Kizilcahamam district of Ankara and spread to a forest area in Gerede district of Bolu as firefighters, Turkish General Directorate of Forestry teams and officers continue their extinguishing and cooling efforts in the forest fire that is under control on August 22, 2024 in Bolu, Turkiye. (Photo by Emin Sansar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A supporter of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party gestures after tear gas was fired by the police to disperse the crowd during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. Thousands of protestors calling for the release of Pakistan's jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan defied roadblocks and tear gas to march to the gates of the nation's capital on November 26. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo)

A dog owner feeds her dog during a dinner for dogs event ahead of the Lunar New Year at Kong Shan Yunnan Bistro restaurant in Shanghai, China, on January 25, 2025. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Reuters)

A Palestinian throws snow at his wife during a snow storm in West Bank old city of Hebron, January 26, 2016. (Photo by Mussa Qawasma/Reuters)