Nikolai Tolstyh takes photos of paper animal silhouettes in a natural setting. The combination is surprisingly perfect: the surroundings provide both color for the cutout and a scene to frame the animal.

Canoeists are framed by the tail of a breaching whale in Antarctica in April 2023. The photographer, from California, writes: “It was probably a once-in-a-lifetime moment”. (Photo by Jiahong Zeng/Solent News)

The Lamb National takes place for the racegoers at Ascot Racecourse on April 2, 2017 in Ascot, England. (Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)

A raccoon crawls out of its hiding place on the roof in Berlin, Germany on May 12, 2020. Every evening he leaves his sleeping place to go in search of food. (Photo by Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa)

A dog jumps into the air to catch a ball along the beach near the County Kerry village of Rossbeigh, Ireland, February 4, 2018. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

Volunteers of a Wild Nature Preservation center release a group of owl chicks from the Toro Mountain in Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, 31 July 2019. (Photo by David Arquimbau Sintes/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Attracting more than 450 entries from around the world, the winners are selected by a panel of expert judges including ZSL honorary conservation fellow and television presenter Kate Humble, and renowned ornithologist Bill Oddie. Here: Anoura Geoffroy’s tailless bat by Nicolas Reusens. The Perfect Moment category; Adult runner up. (Photo by Nicolas Reusens/ZSL Animal Photography Prize 2015)

The Grand National springs to mind as the yearly highlight of the “sport of kings” – thoroughbred steeds and their brave jockeys triumphing (or failing) over gruelling courses and high-fenced adversity. And now steeplechase enthusiasts can add another event to the annuls of great sporting occasions, namely the Stuttgart rabbit show jumping. Here: Rabbit showjumping at an animal fair in Stuttgart, Germany, on November 16, 2014. (Photo by Action Press/Rex Features)