Belarusians wearing national costumes celebrate a Pull the Kolyada Up the Oak rite in the village of Martsiyanauka, some 77 km (48 miles) east of capital Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, January 21, 2016. The merry ancient rite Pull the Kolyada Up the Oak marks the end of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in Belarus. On Jan. 21 a wheel, the so-called Kolyada, would be pulled up an oak or any old tree. The Belarusians believed that the ritual heralds a good harvest, luck and happiness for the entire year. (Photo by Sergei Grits/AP Photo)

In this April 1, 2017 picture a man dressed as a “Harramacho” a traditional character from the Navalacruz carnival poses for a picture before a traditional Spanish mask gathering in the small village of Casavieja, Spain. Every spring they come from towns across central and northwestern Spain, clad in elaborate costumes – some as trees, others as bears, still others as monsters who could have emerged from some sort of fever dream. (Photo by Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP Photo)

Pictures from Tasmania’s central plateau, shot by wilderness photographer Dan Broun, show the extraordinary damage wrought by more than a week of bushfires following lightning strikes in Australia’s southernmost state on January 13. 2016. The world heritage area was home to a range of unique alpine flora including pencil pines, king billy pines and cushion plants, some more than 1,000 years old. Now more than 10,000ha of land has been incinerated, and ecologist say that, unlike eucalyptus trees, the ancient flora will not recover. (Photo by Dan Broun)

A Nepalese army solder stand next to a horse during the “Ghodejatra” Horse Race festival, which is organised by the Nepal Army, in Kathmandu, Nepal, April 7, 2016. Ghode Jatra, the horse racing festival of Nepal, celebrated on the New Moon day of mid March or early April is among the important celebrations of the Kathmandu Valley. Grand horse parade including various acrobatic style of shows are performed by Nepal military at Tundikhel-a fenced parade ground located in the heart of Kathmandu city. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

An injured man is carried atop an Iraqi special forces armored vehicle during fighting against Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

Models pose during the LoveShackFancy Spring/Summer 2023 Presentation at Cooper Hewitt Museum during New York Fashion Week in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., September 12, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)