Child beauty pageants are a billion-dollar industry in the U.S. While some critics see the pageants as an exploitation of innocents, others—particularly pageant parents—view the competitions as a way for a young talent to enter the entertainment industry.

A female forest guard carries a tranquillizer gun in the Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Sasan, in Gujarat December 2, 2014. The sanctuary, which is home to Asiatic lions in India, has an area of 1,412 sq km in which female guards were employed for the first time in India in 2007. The guards fetch a monthly salary of around $148 for working almost 12 hours a day, six days a week, said one of the female guards. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters)

A girl jumps over a campfire while celebrating Ivan Kupala Night, a traditional Slavic holiday not far from Kiev on July 6, 2013. During the celebration, originating in pagan times, people plait wreaths, jump over fires, and swim naked. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)

Young Muslim worshippers stand in the rain at the shrine of the 12th-century Sunni cleric Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (Gilani) in Baghdad as people gather to perform the prayers for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, as observed locally on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

A woman is dragged away by Chinese men moments after she was seen talking to journalists near the site of a reported explosion outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 26, 2018. A man exploded a small homemade bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Thursday, injuring only himself, according to police and an embassy spokesperson. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Capturing this picture of lightning striking near Blackpool Tower has earned Stephen Cheatley the UK Weather Photographer of the Year award 2018. (Photo by Stephen Cheatley/Bav Media)

These adorable rat portraits were taken by a committed photographer who’s made it her mission to remove the stigma attached to the creatures. Diane Ozdamar’s vibrant images feature rodents cutely cuddling flowers, eating fruit, playing with bubbles, and lovingly interacting with each other. The 32-year-old photographer, who lives in Montreal, Canada, shot her «Fancy Rats» series over a number of years. (Photo by Diane Ozdamar/Caters News)

A brown bears cools off in a pool at the bear sanctuary near the village of Mramor, on August 18, 2020. The bear sanctuary was closed for visitors on August 18, as part of safety measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) disease. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)