Andrew Parkinson, animal behaviour category winner: Crepuscular Contentment, Derbyshire. “In 15 years of working with badgers I’ve never seen a badger sit out in the open to have a scratch. I was sat concealed behind a tree and downwind so it was especially nice that the badger had his back to me, demonstrating just how inconspicuous and inconsequential my presence was”. (Photo by Andrew Parkinson/British Wildlife Photography Awards 2017)

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, March 6, 2014. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft launched from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, for their third official Commercial Resupply (CRS) mission to the orbiting lab on April 18, 2014. Dragon returned to Earth with a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of southern California on May 14, 2014. Dragon is the only operational spacecraft capable of returning a significant amount of supplies back to Earth, including experiments. (Photo by Ron Lin/SpaceX Photos)

A woman hangs red chillies to dry outside her house at Khokana village on the outskirts of Kathmandu on August 5, 2020. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

A biker passes by a pair of mailboxes in the Capitol Hill neighborhood November 6, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. Colorado is considered by most experts to be one of the key battleground state in this year's presidential election. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/AFP Photo)

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

Respect, Kronotsky nature reserve, Russia. The photographer’s cat, Ryska – her name means little lynx in Russian – stands outside their cabin and with aggressive posturing warns off a fox. In winter, foxes would regularly visit the cabin searching for food. If one peered in at the window, possible when the snow was deep, Ryska would sit on the other side, fur raised, and growl. When outside, she would hold her ground. The foxes were not always frightened and so encounters could be a sort of dance. (Photo by Igor Shpilenok/Unforgettable Behaviour/NHM)

Military items for women are seen in a store in Erbil, Iraq January 24, 2017. (Photo by Marius Bosch/Reuters)

“In the ongoing epics of the Pakistani Starfleet in their ever lasting quest to embrace and protect the freedoms of all humanity and life elsewhere in the cosmos we explore the future of Pakistan as a leader in advanced technology, diverse culture, exploration, helping to preserve peace & help those in need from the less than benign that reside in the darkest reaches of the cosmos to those who share & cherish kinship with all of humanity from the brightest reaches of the cosmos”. – Kenny Hassan Irwin

Mingora Hovoped Takes No Ordinary Rider. (Photo by Kenny Hassan Irwin)