Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

A visitor poses with artist Joyce Pensato's artwork “Mickey for Micky” at the Frieze Art Fair in London, October 14, 2014. (Photo by Luke MacGregor/Reuters)

Second placed Zhang Guowei of China gestures as he celebrates after winning silver in the men's high jump final during the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China, August 30, 2015. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

This photograph, taken in Cognocoli-Monticchi on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on November 14, 2023 shows lenticular clouds above Corsican mountains. (Photo by Pascal Pochard-Casabianca/AFP Photo)

Pamukkale, Turkey, is home to these terrace pools, formed by the build-up of carbonate mineral from the warm water flowing from the thermal springs above. (Photo by Image Courtesy of Jennifer Hayes/Getty Images)

Security personnel patrol around West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, August 31, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Flag bearers Bunpichmorakat Kheun and Sokong Pen of Team Cambodia during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

People wait on a taxi line near Madison Square Garden, Wednesday, September 23, 2015, as a 225-foot-tall hand-painted billboard of Pope Francis stands out at Eighth Avenue in New York. The billboard, designed by Israel Ochoa of DeSales Media, including a photo by photographer Giulio Napolitano, marks the arrival of the pope Thursday. (Photo by Craig Ruttle/AP Photo)