Mr. Ben, a pygmy slow loris, is administed anesthetic during one of Bristol Zoo's in-house veterinary clinic routine health check-up and teeth clean as part of the Zoo's standard animal husbandry and welfare procedure at Bristol Zoo on June 18, 2009 in Bristol, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Masked dancers perform a ritualistic dance at Kathmandu Durbar Square during the procession of erecting a sacred pole locally called “Ya: Shi”, marking the formal start of Indra Jatra dedicated to rain god Indra in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Growing cities, overuse of fertilizers and factory wastewater have degraded China's water supplies to the extent that half the nation's rivers and lakes are severely polluted. China aims to spend $850 billion to improve filthy water supplies over the next decade, but even such huge outlays may do little to reverse damage caused by decades of pollution and overuse in Beijing's push for rapid economic growth. Photo: Fishermen row a boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, Anhui province, June 19, 2009. (Photo by Jianan Yu/Reuters)

These pictures reveal the crumbling ruins of the famed Grand Orient Express, now hollowed-out and almost reduced to rubble. There are only a couple of the trains, launched in 1883, left in the world. This example stands dormant in Belgium, untouched from its last voyage in the winter of 2009. Rusty ceilings, moth-eaten seats and tattered floors capture its level of decay. A Rotterdam-based urban photographer Brian Romeijn managed to snap these pictures while exploring the area. (Photo by Brian Romeijn/IMP Features)

In this photo taken June 3, 2009, a female North Korean soldier looks out from behind a barbed-wire fence around a camp on the North Korean river banks across from Hekou, northeastern China's Liaoning province. North Korea's top court has convicted two U.S. journalists, and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison, the country's state news agency reported Monday. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

“Wong Maye-E joined AP as a staff photographer in 2003. Based in Singapore, Maye-E's work is centered around Sports reportage, entertainment, politics, and regional news stories. Maye-E has covered headlining events such as the 2014 World Cup, Thailand political protests, and the devastation of the Philippines Typhoon”. – Associated Press. Photo: A baby black howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) clings onto its mother's back on Thursday January 29, 2009 in Singapore where it's national zoo is actively involved in the conservation and education of wildlife reserves. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

Tao Xiangli gets out of his homemade submarine after operating it in a lake on the outskirts of Beijing September 3, 2009. Amateur inventor Tao, 34, made a fully functional submarine, which has a periscope, depth control tanks, electric motors, manometer, and two propellers, from old oil barrels and tools which he bought at a second-hand market. He took 2 years to invent and test the submarine which costs 30,000 yuan ($4,385). (Photo by Christina Hu/Reuters)

David Guttenfelder was born in Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology. He has worked for the AP since 1994 based in Kenya, the Ivory Coast, India and Japan. He is currently AP’s chief Asia photographer and his feature work has been used prominently in editorial publications throughout the world including Time and National Geographic. Photo: U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, fire mortars at known enemy firing positions from a base in the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar province, Saturday, October 24, 2009. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)