Giant panda Mei Xiang discovers a birthday cake meant for her cub Bei Bei (NP) who turns one at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC on August 20, 2016. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

Bao Bao, the Giant Panda cub is seen by the media for the first time January 6, 2014 inside his glass enclosure at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, a few days before going on display to the general public. Bao Bao was born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo August 2, 2013. (Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP Photo)

A giant panda cub is pictured in an incubator at the Ya'an Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in Ya'an city, southwest China's Sichuan province, 21 August 2015. Ten tiny panda cubs made their first public appearance at China's Ya'an Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in southwestern Sichuan province on Friday (21 August 2015). All of the ten giant pandas were born in 2015. The oldest of them is just two month old, while the youngest one was born a week ago. This marks the first time they were put together as a group since they were born. (Photo by Imaginechina/Splash News)

Costumed children from the local Shade performance group perform their show during the annual Brixton Burn in Johannesburg, South Africa, 28 August 2021. The annual event is run by members of the “Afrikaburn” community which is a regional event of “Burning Man” in the United States. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA/EFE)

Cape fox cubs play fight in the last decade of May 2025 in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa, their silver and yellow fur camouflaging them in the desert. (Photo by John Mullineux/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Shortlisted: The Life: A narrow strip, Río Tinto, Huelva, Spain. A narrow strip of road divides ochre-coloured and fresh waters. Trees wait on the fresh side of the road opposite the toxic waters of a nearby mine reservoir. (Photo by Roberto Bueno/CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2021)

Thai school girls pose for photographs with pythons during the 2022 Pet Expo Championship in Bangkok on September 8, 2022. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)

Winner – Animal Portraits: The pose by Mogens Trolle, Denmark. A young male proboscis monkey cocks his head slightly and closes his eyes. Unexpected pale blue eyelids now complement his immaculately groomed auburn hair. He poses for a few seconds as if in meditation. He is a wild visitor to the feeding station at Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary in Sabah, Borneo – “the most laid-back character”, says Trolle, “quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen on another monkey” – connects us, he hopes, with a fellow primate. (Photo by Mogens Trolle/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020)