An iguana in Bali helped Julij Kopilović, age eight, from Slovenia, earn second runner-up in Amazing Animals. (Photo by Julij Kopilović/National Geographic)

A photographer could bear-ly believe his eyes when a bear started waving at him. The friendly animal wandered to the front of his enclosure before sitting back in full view of zoo guests. He then lifts his powerful paw and excitedly waves in an almost human-like way at his new audience. The hilarious encounter was captured by keen photographer Andrey Slepnev, 31, while on a trip to Madrid Zoo, Spain on March 24, 2016. (Photo by Andrey Slepnev/Caters News)

A surfer dressed as Santa Claus participates in the 16th annual “Surfing Santas” event on Christmas Eve in Cocoa Beach, Florida, December 24, 2024. (Photo by Giorgio Viera/AFP Photo)

Sunrise over Haleakala Crater, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii on April 26th, 2011. (Photo by Robert Bush/Alamy Stock Photo)

A combine harvester drives over a field of cut grass and threshes lawn seeds from the dried plants in Hanshagen, Germany, Thursday, June 30, 2022. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the harvest has started earlier than usual due to the heat. (Photo by Jens Büttner/dpa via AP Photo)

Buddy the dog peers from a vehicle before the start of a movie at a drive in cinema in Snagov, Romania, Monday, June 1, 2020. Romania further loosened the measures imposed during a nationwide lockdown in order to limit the spread of the COVID-19 infections, with museums, open air restaurants, cinemas and beaches opening for public on Monday. (Photo by Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo)

British holidaymaker Sean Chinn captures a crocodile on camera during a dive at the Jardines de la Reina marine park in Caribbean Sea, Cuba. (Photo by Sean Chinn/Caters News Agency)

A monkey leaps into a pond on a hot day in Allahabad on May 19, 2017. According to local reports temperatures have soared in the northern Indian city to 47.28 Celsius. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)