Samba dancers outside Woolwich station celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth Line in London, England on May 23, 2022. Originally due to open in December 2018, the £18.8bn railway links Reading and Essex via central London. (Photo by Jill Mead/The Guardian)

A snow leopard looks on from an inside of a cage, after being captured from the southern plains of Nepal and brought to the central zoo, which wildlife experts say is rare for the animal that is found in the higher altitude, in Kathmandu, Nepal on January 26, 2024. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Dalmatian pelicans jostle over a fish meal on September 9, 2021. Every year about 100 of the birds fly to feast at Lake Kerkini, central Macedonia, Greece. (Photo by Peter Bradley/Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News)

Gunung Leuser National Park is a national park covering 7,927 km² in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, straddling the border of North Sumatra and Aceh provinces. The national park, named after Mount Leuser (3,381 m), protects a wide range of ecosystems. An orangutan sanctuary of Bukit Lawang is located inside the park. Together with Bukit Barisan Selatan and Kerinci Seblat national parks it forms a World Heritage Site, Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.

This photographer is walking on thin ice after taking stunning photographs inside an Alaskan ice cave that could collapse at any moment. With it's dazzling turquoise walls and and huge open spaces, it's hard to imagine that this incredible frozen cavern was only formed at the beginning of 2012. But despite it's seemingly mystical allure, the fascinating natural phenomena is at risk of collapsing in on itself without warning. (Photo by Ron Gile/Caters News)

Located in Siberia, Laka Baikal is the largest freshwater lake on the planet that contains approximately 20 percent of the Earth’s freshwater. Apart from being the oldest lake in the world at over 25 million years old, Lake Baikal is also home to over two thousand varieties of flora and fauna, of which almost 1,600 are endemic to the lake. The water of Lake Baikal is renowned for being some of the clearest in the world. When the lake freezes during the winter, an amazing phenomena takes place: large shards of transparent ice form on the surface of the lake, giving the amazing appearance of turquoise ice.

“My children are not only my little darlings but off-shoots of myself. When I look at them, I have a strange feeling – as if I am watching myself re-living my life. What I want to show is their “living form”. – Hideaki Hamada. Photo: “Rainy days and mondays #1”. (Photo and caption by Hideaki Hamada)

The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg (31 and 99 lb), making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otter's primary form of insulation is an exceptionally thick coat of fur, the densest in the animal kingdom. Although it can walk on land, the sea otter lives mostly in the ocean.