Igor Shpilenok works in the reserve at Kamchatka, Russia. Igor is a fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers and a winner of the 2006 BBC Wildlife Photographer Competition. Igor’s work has been published in numerous international and Russian magazines, including Smithsonian, National Wildlife, Geo, and BBC Wildlife.

“How does a bear behave when encounter a human? In most cases he runs away. But before running he almost always would rise to stand on his rear feet. And this behavior does not indicate the attack, as many people think...” – Igor Shpilenok. (Photo by Igor Shpilenok via Wildlife Photo Russia)

An environmental activist adjusts his mask while taking part in “The Dead Sea Swim Challenge”, swimming from the Jordanian to Israeli shore, to draw attention to the ecological threats facing the Dead Sea, in Kibbutz Ein Gedi, Israel November 15, 2016. Swimmers from around the world plunged into the salty waters of the Dead Sea on Tuesday to attempt a seven-hour swim across the fabled lake in a bid to draw attention to its environmental degradation. Wearing protective masks and snorkels, 25 swimmers paddled through the muddy water to attempt the 9-mile (15-kilometer) swim from Jordan to Israel. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)

A woman dressed in traditional Oromo costume attends a swearing ceremony of the newly named 72nd Borana Pastoralist chief, “Aba Gada” Guyo Wariyo in Arero, Ethiopia on March 9, 2025. (Photo by Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)

Rwandan refugees cross the Rusumo border to Tanzania from Rwanda carrying their belongings, goats, mattresses and cows, May 30, 1994. The bloodshed that claimed 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu lives began 25 years ago on April 7, 1994, when a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira and a French air crew was shot down. (Photo by Jeremiah Kamau/Reuters)

A member of the Africa Roho Msalaba church throws a 2 month old baby into the air during the “Throwing babies into the air” ritual in Kibera Slum of Nairobi, Kenya on March 10, 2024. The babies of the members of the Africa Roho Msalaba church, who are not taken out of the house until they are 2 months old and are not allowed to be seen by strangers, are introduced to the community by being paraded through the streets with the 'throwing babies in the air' ritual. (Photo by Edwin Ndeke/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Fishermen carry a tuna fish to the market in Mogadishu, Somalia, April 2, 2025. (Photo by Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP Photo)

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)

A Mai-Mai rebel soldier shows off his guns at a checkpoint near the Mugunga refugee camp in Zaire; 1996. (Photo by Carol Guzy/The Washington Post)