A young boy scoops water from a hand-dug well in the dry riverbed near Matinyani, in the semi-arid Kitui County in southeastern Kenya, 22 March 2015, the World Water Day. Residents of Kitui County and other arid and semi-arid areas of the country have been hard-hit by extremely poor rainfall this year while the government said in previous month that some 1.6 million people countrywide are facing acute starvation due to the drought and will need relief food over the next six months. Residents of Matinyani say they haven't seen a drop of rain in nearly four months. Thousands of Kenyans in rural areas walk tens of kilometers just to fetch water to drink and to be used in their homes. According to an estimate by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), 17 million people lack access to safe water in Kenya, where the drought is a perennial problem. (Photo by Dai Kurokawa/EPA)

A crane loads logs at the Novoyeniseisk wood processing plant, with the air temperature at about minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit), in the town of Lesosibirsk in Krasnoyarsk Region, Siberia, Russia, February 16, 2016. The plant exports timber to Europe, Northern Africa and Asia. The Taiga, also known as the boreal forest, on the coast of the Angara River and Yenisei River is one of the main areas for the industrial cutting of wood thanks to the high quality of the Angara pine. Open air work continues all year around regardless to temperatures which can drop to minus 52 degrees Celsius (minus 61.6 degrees Fahrenheit), according to employees. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

“Two Brothers”. We found about 20 lions eating a buffalo. When the male leaved the group we anticipated him to take photos. It is 8AM, light is perfect and the position too. The lion stops and looks down from the hill, another lion is coming up, it stiffens, I think that will be a fight, i'm tense, the camera is OK, the shots previously made perfect. The two meet, looking directly into their eyes, they sniff, rub against their heads, the tension drops, they start walking with the same step as when they were puppies, they are two brothers. Photo location: Masai Mara, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Massimo Mei/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“A snapshot from mountaineer's life”. Have you ever wondered how does a mountaineer's day start? I will give you a hint: you wake up at 3 am, set the stove, wake up your partner, pretend it is warm, quickly consume a high-calorie breakfast, watch your friends slowly ascending the icy slopes of your dream summit with their tiny head torches glimmering against perfectly blue ice, and hope for the good weather. One would ask: why all this trouble? The answer is easy: for the love of the adventure and the unknown. Location: Chamonix, Haute Savoye, France. (Photo and caption by Kamil Tamiola/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Wendy Adriaens, owner of animal rescue farm “De Passiehoeve” and nicknamed the Ostrich Whisperer, poses for a photo with three-year-old male ostrich Flodder, in Kalmthout, Belgium, 25 July 2022. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An owl curiously peeks out from a tree hollow. The pictures of the spotted owlet were taken by Anuj Jain in Chandigarh, India in the second decade of November 2025. (Photo by Anuj Jain/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Miners pulling up lazy tourists to the rim of Kawah Ijen (Ijen Volcano), East Java, Indonesia on September 21, 2017. They will earn as much as they would bring down a load of sulfur. Nomadic Explorer, Cultural Lifestyle Photographer Claudio Sieber captured striking images of miners working at Ijen volcanic range in East Java, Indonesia. The sulphur miners risk their lives daily as they climb the active volcano carrying heavy loads, which they sell to sugar refineries. (Photo by Claudio Sieber/Barcroft Images)

Spectacular images offering insight into the lives of the Huaorani people in the Ecuadorian Amazon have been revealed showing how they use traditional methods to hunt monkeys for food. The stunning pictures were taken by conservation photographer Pete Oxford from Torquay, Devon in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Here: The tribe were seen celebrating after a hunter returned to camp with a wild pig. (Photo by Pete Oxford/Mediadrumworld.com)