A baby sloth uses his mother as a hammock while she feasts on papayas in Heredia province in Costa Rica in April 2023. (Photo by William Steele/Solent News)

A Kashmiri farmer picks saffron flowers from a field in Pampore, south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 06 November 2023. Pampore, also known as the Saffron town of Kashmir, is famous for its high quality saffron. It is one of few places in the world where the world's most expensive spice grows. (Photo by Farooq Khan/EPA)

A pair of black-necked stilts fight over their marshland territory in Orlando, Florida in the last decade of July 2024. (Photo by Jake Landing/Solent News)

Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson (74) gloves a loose puck beside Vegas Golden Knights right wing Keegan Kolesar (55) during the third period at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 17, 2024. (Photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie/Imagn Images via USA Today Sports)

Presidential candidate Javier Milei arrives at the Teatro Colón opera house with his girlfriend, Fatima Florez, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, November 17, 2023. Milei will face Economy Minister Sergio Massa in a runoff election on Nov. 19. (Photo by Ramiro Souto/AP Photo)

An Armed Police dog with vermillion on its forehead and marigold garland placed around its neck looks on during an event to mark the Hindu festival Tihar, at the Armed Police Dog Training School in Kathmandu on November 12, 2023. Dogs in Nepal were decked with marigold garlands and bright vermillion paint on November 12 to celebrate a day dedicated to them as part of a Hindu festival. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

“Sunward”. When the Mediterrenean Mantis opened its wings, It seemed very impressive at the sunshine... Photo location: Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo and caption by Hasan Baglar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)