A fight between two female musk oxen, Norway, 2021. The image was captured in Norway’s Dovrefjell national park, where the musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) was reintroduced several years ago for its conservation. It is normal for males of this species to engage in fierce battles during the mating season but unusual for two females. (Photo by Miquel Angel Artús Illana)

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)

The competition, which is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, is now in its sixth year and has received over 2,500 entries. Photo: Centre of the Heart Nebula by Ivan Eder (Hungary). Situated 7500 light years away in the “W”-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, the Heart Nebula is a vast region of glowing gas, energized by a cluster of young stars at its centre. The image depicts the central region, where dust clouds are being eroded and moulded into rugged shapes by the searing cosmic radiation. (Photo by Ivan Eder)

Miss World 2011 participants Miss USA, Miss Canada, Miss Mexico, Miss Guatamala, Miss Costa Rica, Miss Dominican Republic pose beside the Thames during a photocall as part of the Miss World 2011 UK Tour, on October 31, 2011 in London, United Kingdom. The tour celebrates Miss World's 60th birthday. The final of the competition will take place in Earls Court, London on Sunday 6th of November. (Photo by Ian Jones /Miss World Ltd via Getty Images)

Sophia Fernandes, a member of the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, dons traditional afro braids, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, August 13, 2022. Devotees celebrate Our Lady of Abadia at this time of the year with weddings, baptisms and by crowning distinguished community members, as they maintain cultural practices originating from Africa that mix with Catholic traditions. (Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP Photo)

Check out this tornado spotted in Broward County, Florida on October 9, 2024, as Hurricane Milton closes in on the sunshine state. Florida Dept of Transport posted these striking images showing the menacing weather system forming some 252 miles away from Tampa, where the hurricane is expected to hit overnight. (Photo by FloridaDOT/The Mega Agency)

A woman learns how to use an AK-47 assault rifle during a civilians self-defence course in the outskirts of Lviv, western Ukraine, on March 4, 2022. The Russian army occupied on March 4, 2022 the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Zaporozhie (south), the largest in Europe, where bombings in the night have raised fears of a disaster as more than 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, United Nations figures showed on March 4, 2022. (Photo by Daniel Leal/AFP Photo)

Children watch their classmate pour cold water on herself under the watch of a fitness coach at a local kindergarten in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, March 11, 2015. The program, which also involves sports training and sauna usage, has been practiced by the kindergarten for more than 15 years as they believe it has health benefits and keeps the children fit. Children start pouring cold water on themselves outdoors after about three years of training and undergoing medical tests, and the kindergarten is the only one in the region that practices these exercises, according to employees. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)