Natural world and wildlife shortlist. Lop Buri in Thailand is home to hundreds of macaques, which local residents consider to be disciples of the Hindu god Hanuman. While some people love them, others fear or even hate them. Despite the inconvenience they often cause, the macaques are generally respected and considered sacred. (Photo by Joan de la Malla/Sony World Photography Awards)

A counter-protester gestures during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, in London, Britain, June 13, 2020. (Photo by Simon Dawson/Reuters)

A fuzzy caterpillar on a basil plant in west Bengal, India on December 25, 2023. The caterpillar’s defence system is its hair, which has microscopic barbs that break off easily in the skin of would-be predators. (Photo by Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A rainbow over the windmill in Lytham, Lancashire on May 17, 2022 at sunset after rain hit the region last night after the hottest day of the year. (Photo by Gregg Wolstenholme/Bav Media)

A curious grey seal investigates photographer Brian Matthews at Lundy Island off the north Devon coast, July 2024. *Photo by Brian Matthews/Solent News)

A shopkeeper wears a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus waits for customers at a market in Bengaluru, India, Friday, November 20, 2020. India's total number of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began has crossed 9 million. Nevertheless the country's new daily cases have seen a steady decline for weeks now and the total number of cases represents 0.6% of India's 1.3 billion population. (Photo by Aijaz Rahi/AP Photo)

Children walk amid a mirror installation titled “Sea of Mirrors”, featuring digital images of fish in the ocean during a preview tour the day before the show's public opening at the AquaRio aquarium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania). At 610m deep and 260 sq km, this is the largest unflooded caldera in the world. A blue-green vision from above it's a haven for engangered wildlife and Maasai livestock. The crater was formed three million years ago when a giant volcano, which could have been as high as Kilimanjaro, exploded and collapsed. The caldera formed the concentric fractures in the crust cracked down to a magma reservoir deep underground. (Photo by John Bryant/Getty Images)