Climbers “painted” the Matterhorn red this week to celebrate a special anniversary. A group of mountaineers left red beacons along the route of the famous climb, which is one of the highest mountains in the Alps, and as nightfall came the imposing mountain came alive with colour. The event was organised by clothing brand Mammut to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first explorers to scale the mountain. (Photo by MSN UK/Mammut)

This watering hole is the social hub of the veldt; the scrubby grasslands that stretch across Namibia. The scorched earth supports sometimes fragile populations of magnificent wildlife – from endangered predators to plentiful herds of game. But these gentle giraffes and elephants need to be careful: lions don’t sleep at night, they hunt! The spectacular starscape above southern Africa is unchanged since explorers first mapped the continent. The photographer, Pietro Olivetta from Italy, said he had to be patient to capture these shots – but it was worth the wait. (Photo by Pietro Olivetta/Caters News)

Polar frame, by Dmitry Kokh, Russia. When Kokh’s boat approached the small island of Kolyuchin in the Russian High Arctic, which had been abandoned by humans since 1992, he was surprised to spot movement in one of the houses. Binoculars revealed polar bears – more than 20 in total – exploring the ghost town. Dmitry used a low-noise drone to document them. (Photo by Dmitry Kokh/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022)

A forest near Chatillion, a small village in Belgium, used to be home to a vintage car graveyard. This “car graveyard” has since been cleaned up, but photographer Theo van Vliet had the chance to explore the forest and photograph the cars beforehand. (Photo by Theo van Vliet)

Son doong cave is a cave in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Bố Trạch district, Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam. Currently the biggest known cave in the world, the cave is located near the Laos-Vietnam border. Inside is a large, fast-flowing underground river.
In early August 2013, the first tourist group explored the cave on a guided tour at a cost of US$3,000 each. The group had six members from Australia, Norway, Russia and USA and spent 7 days and 6 nights for the tour. Next exploration trips will be arranged.

Karis, an 8 week old lion cub, growls at a pumpkin as she explores a Halloween treat put in her enclosure by staff at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling, Scotland, Tuesday, October 29, 2013. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/AP Photo/PA Wire)

Northern Lynx kittens, explore their enclosure at the Highland Wildlife park on October 9, 2012 in Kingussie, Scotland. The feline twins are believed to be the type of lynx found historically in Scotland. The Highland Wildlife Park specialises in Scottish animal species, both past and present, and species that are well adapted to cold weather. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell)

Attendees wear a cardboard “Facebox” at the 2017 South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, U.S., on Monday, March 13, 2017. The SXSW Interactive Festival features a variety of tracks that allow attendees to explore what's next in the worlds of entertainment, culture, and technology. (Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)