A lynx in a wintry forest investigates a remote camera in the last decade of January 2025. Four lynx were recently illegally released into the Cairngorms, in the Scottish Highlands, and were rescued by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, although one subsequently died. (Photo by Brian Matthews/Solent News)

A red deer stag in Bushy Park, southwest London, pulls a comical face for the camera in the second decade of November 2023. (Photo by Andrew Wood/Caters News Agency)

A common kingfisher sits on a branch of a tree after catching an insect in Allahabad, India, Sunday, July 9, 2017. The common kingfisher is a highly territorial bird that has to eat nearly sixty percent of its bodyweight every day. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

This picture shows a two-year old orangutan seized from a residents house at the provincial Nature Conservation and Agency (BKSDSA) office in Banda Aceh on September 16, 2014. The critically-endangered primates population are dwindling rapidly due to poaching and rapid destruction of their forest habitat that is being converted into palm oil plantations. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

A Broto dancer prepares himself in a disused house of Bambari, in the centre of Central African Republic, before performing on March 14, 2019. The Broto, belonging to the Banda ethnic group, are known for their traditional dances accompanied by heavy horns made of tree roots. Today this tradition falls into disuse and its history is now forgotten by the new generations. (Photo by Florent Vergnes/AFP Photo)

Firefighters pull a pig as they try to rescue it from a well at a pig farm in Huanghua township of Leqing, Zhejiang province, April 25, 2014. Seven local firefighters successfully rescued a 300 kg (661 lbs) pig which fell down a well on Friday morning, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Clowns pose for a picture during the International Clown Day in Guadalajara, Mexico, on December 10, 2019. (Photo by Ulises Ruiz/AFP Photo)

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)