Yala national park, Sri Lanka. Category: Action. “The daylight was fading and I was scanning the bush for a leopard. Then, I saw this garden lizard and a common bronzeback snake in the road. When the snake struck, the lizard performed amazing acrobatics to avoid it. The snake didn’t enjoy the extra attention from the crowd of jeeps. The distraction gave the lizard the chance to live another day”. (Photo by Sajith Buddikha Withanage/National Geographic Traveller UK)

A Kurdish girl celebrates Newroz Day, a festival marking spring and the new year, in Akra, Iraq March 20, 2016. Nowruz is the name of the Iranian New Year also referred to as Persian New Year which is celebrated worldwide by Iranian peoples, along with some other ethno-linguistic groups. Nowruz is the day of the vernal equinox, and marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. It usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day, depending on where it is observed. Although having Persian and religious Zoroastrian origins, Nowruz has been celebrated by people from diverse ethno-linguistic communities for thousands of years. (Photo by Ari Jalal/Reuters)

Honourable mention, Behaviour category. Toss the scorpion – Indian roller playing with its kill by Susmita Datta. The image was taken during an early morning safari drive at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in India. (Photo by Susmita Datta/PA Wire/Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2017)

An Indian Hindu married woman offers prayers during Karva Chauth festival in Jammu, India, Sunday, October 24, 2021. Hindu married women decorate their hands with henna, wear colorful bangles and observe a fast to pray for the longevity and well being of their husbands during this festival. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)

Shakar Rustami (L) and Zulaikha Amini, organizers of the“'Smart Way” book and painting exhibition stand in front of painting in Kabul, Afghanistan, 21 August 2023. Young female artists in Kabul held a painting exhibition to express the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women and girls. The exhibition also featured books displayed by students to promote reading culture. Some of the girls called for the Taliban to lift the restrictions against women and girls. Many female students turned to painting and drawing after schools and universities closed. (Photo by Samiullah Popal/EPA/EFE)

Dancers from the Moulin Rouge troupe are reflected in a mirror as they prepare themselves prior to a press photo shoot at the National Theatre in Warsaw, on October 26, 2023. The famous cabaret will take part in the show “French Touch La Belle Vie” highlighting the Franco-Polish friendship. (Photo by Wojtek Radwanski/AFP Photo)

Queen of drums, Viviane Araujo of Salgueiro performs during 2024 Carnival parades at Sapucai Sambodrome on February 11, 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)