Maasai men of Matapato jostle to parade as they attend the Olng'esherr (meat-eating) passage ceremony to unite two age-sets; the older Ilpaamu and the younger Ilaitete into senior elderhood as the final rite of passage, in Maparasha hills of Kajiado, Kenya on September 23, 2020. Thousands of Maasai men clad in red and purple shawls and with their heads coated in red ochre gathered this week for a ceremony that transforms them from Moran (warriors) to Mzee (elders). (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Pupils wearing face masks wait for the opening of their primary school on the first day of the new school year, in Ouagadougou, on October 1, 2020. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)

People wear face masks as they ride an E-scooter in the Old Elbe Tunnel in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday, October 15, 2020. To avoid the spread of the coronavirus the use of a face mask in the 117-year-old tunnel under the Elbe river is mandatory. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Inbar Regev, an eight-year-old Israeli girl, holds her pet python while swimming in her backyard pool in Ge'a, southern Israel on October 7, 2020. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

A woman takes part in a demonstration against police violence during the recent rallies of opposition supporters following the presidential election in Minsk, Belarus on August 12, 2020. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

In this Monday, September 23, 2019, a woman waits for alms as she sits with her child in a street on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Advanced Space Suit Engineer at NASA Kristine Davis wears the xEMU prototype space suit for the next astronaut to the moon by 2024, during its presentation at NASA headquarters in Washington, U.S., October 15, 2019. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Grand prize winner: environmental photographer of the year 2023; also 1st place in the humanity v nature category; and winner of the 2023 public award. Lopé national park, Gabon, 2021. An angry elephant tries to defend itself after it was hit by a train that crosses paths the animals use within Lopé national park. Park officials decided the elephant was too severely injured to be saved. After it was killed, the park director distributed the meat to local people. As the forest loses its carrying capacity to sustain its megafauna, this kind of human-wildlife conflict is increasing. (Photo by Jasper Doest/Environmental Photography Award)