Donald M. Jones / Common Loon (Gavia immer) stretching wings, Troy, Montana

Norbert Wu / Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) feeding on plankton off Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Hiroya Minakuchi / Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) near surface, Baja California, Mexico

Donald M. Jones / White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) buck jumping and flashing tail, North America

Suzi Eszterhas / African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus), northern Botswana

Murray Cooper / Sparkling Violet-ear (Colibri coruscans) hummingbird males fighting, Ecuador, digitally manipulated

Pete Oxford / Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys) pair courting, Steeple Jason Island, Falkland Islands

Jasper Doest / Caribou (Rangifer tarandus), Abisko, Sweden

Jim Brandenburg / Common Loon (Gavia immer) swimming, Minnesota

Pete Oxford / Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) swimming with other tropical fish, note satellite tag to right of dorsal fin, Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Thomas Marent / African Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantation and people, eastern Madagascar

Theo Allofs / African Lion (Panthera leo) two females playing in Savuti which is famous for a large resident African Lion pride that specializes in killing young elephants, Chobe National Park, Botswana

Mitsuaki Iwago / African Lion (Panthera leo) female attacking Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii), Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Chris Newbert / Blue Sea Star (Linckia laevigata) and schooling baitfish, 20 feet deep, Papua New Guinea

Richard Du Toit / Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) herd, Okavango Delta, Botswana

Patricio Robles Gil / Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) hatchling being released, Pacific Ocean, Oaxaca, Mexico

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) mother with two 4 month old cubs sitting in grass together, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Colin Monteath / Hiker looking at Mt Cook, known locally as Aoraki, from Malte-Brun, Southern Alps, New Zealand

Pete Oxford / African Lion (Panthera leo) watching Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) herd, Africa

Pete Oxford / African Lion (Panthera leo) pair of females watching Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) herd, Africa

Pete Oxford / African Lion (Panthera leo) evading retaliation by Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) herd, Africa

Pete Oxford / African Lion (Panthera leo) chasing Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) herd, Africa

Pete Oxford / African Lion (Panthera leo) group feeding on Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer), Africa

Pete Oxford / Madagascar Moon Moth (Argema mittrei) male on Jamun (Eugenia jambolana) leaves in the eastern highlands south of Antananarivo, Madagascar

Konrad Wothe / Okapi (Okapia johnstoni) parent with young, native to tropical forests of northern Congo

Anup Shah / Rear view of juvenile & adult White rhinoceros {Ceratotherium simum} Lake Nakuru NP, Kenya

Flip Nicklin / Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) surrounded by several scuba divers, threatened, Cocos Island, Costa Rica

Michio Hoshino / Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) pair crossing icefield, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

Tim Fitzharris / African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) parents and two calves with Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) flock, Kenya

Mitsuaki Iwago / Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) female laying eggs in nest on beach, endangered, Hawaii

Mark Moffett / Weaver Ant (Oecophylla longinoda) group grab an adjacent leaf and stem with mandibles and toes and pull, gradually binding them together to make a nest, Malaysia

Mark Moffett / Weaver Ant (Oecophylla longinoda) group grab an adjacent leaf and stem with mandibles and toes and pull, gradually binding them together, Malaysia

Winfried Wisniewski / African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) mother with calf, Africa

Flip de Nooyer / Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) two downy chicks standing together in nesting colony, Antarctica

ZSSD / Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) mother walking away with 48 day old baby on back, native to Africa

Mitsuaki Iwago / African Lion (Panthera leo) female chasing Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) group in river, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Gerry Ellis / Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) camel mother with two day old baby, Oasis Dakhia, Sahara, Egypt

Gerry Ellis / Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) trio, domestic camels with Bedouins at sunset, Oasis Dakhia, Great Sand Sea, Sahara Desert, Egypt

Gerry Ellis / Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) trio with Bedouins at sunset, Oasis Dakhia, Great Sand Sea, Sahara Desert, Egypt

Mitsuaki Iwago / Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) mother giving birth, Serengeti

Mitsuaki Iwago / African Lion (Panthera leo) mother and sleeping cub, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Shin Yoshino / Yellow-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus africanus) trio sitting on Cape Buffalo's (Syncerus caffer) head, Kenya

Gerry Ellis / African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) herd at watering hole, Tsavo National Park, Kenya

Tim Fitzharris / African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) parents and two calves with Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) flock, Kenya

Gerry Ellis / African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) orphan, Maluti, six months old, charging camera, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Tsavo East National Park, Kenya

Gerry Ellis / Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchellii) and Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) crossing the Mara River, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Shin Yoshino / African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) pair roaming grasslands in front of Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Shin Yoshino / African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) along waterhole with wallowing Hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibious) and Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) flock, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Jim Brandenburg / Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) trio running on sand dune, Namib Desert, Namibia

Gerry Ellis / Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) herd migrating across Serengeti, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Tui De Roy / Glacier with tourist expedition in inflatable zodiac, southern Greenland Fjords, Greenland

Flip Nicklin / Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) surfacing, Santa Barbara Channel, California

Birgitte Wilms / Golden Cownose Ray (Rhinoptera steindachneri) school, 20 feet deep, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Flip Nicklin / Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) hauling out on ice floe, Wager Bay, Canada

Flip Nicklin / Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) trio surfacing, Shark Bay, Australia

Bob Barbour / Surfer catching air, backside view

Gerry Ellis / African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) portrait, east Africa

Matthias Breiter / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) cubs silhouetted against water at sunrise, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Claus Meyer / Red-tailed Amazon (Amazona brasiliensis) pair, southern Brazil

Colin Monteath / Mountaineer enjoying the view of Mt Everest and the Himalayan Mountains at sunset from Gokyo Ri, Khumbu, Nepal

Sumio Harada / Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) males butting heads while a third looks on, Rocky Mountains, North America

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / Lone hiker walking along the base of a sandstone butte strong pattern of wavy lines in petrified sand dunes are exposed by erosion, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Colorado Plateau, Utah

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / Lone hiker walking on colorful sandstone strong pattern of wavy lines in petrified sand dunes are exposed by erosion, Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Colorado Plateau, Utah

Thomas Mangelsen / Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) breaching, Southeast Alaska

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) pair of young males fighting, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Claus Meyer / Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) pair, Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

Eric Dietrich / Chinstrap Penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica) group riding iceberg, Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Colin Monteath / Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) tail near iceberg, Antarctica

Mike Parry / Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) hatchling trio entering sea, Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea

Tim Fitzharris / Southern Hawker Dragonfly (Aeshna cyanea) close-up, on stem, New Mexico

Tom Vezo / Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) pair on rock interacting, St Paul Island, Pribilof Islands, Alaska

Tom Vezo / Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) adult rufous morph flying, Sulphur Springs Valley, Arizona

Matthias Breiter / Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) adult male charging opponent, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

Pete Oxford / Morpho Butterfly (Morpho achilles) butterfly, on a leaf in the rainforest, Ecuador

Konrad Wothe / Ice climber on Perito Moreno Glacier, Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina

Konrad Wothe / Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) colony and queen on honeycomb, North America

Pete Oxford / Two Chagra cowboys on an overnight ride at a hacienda to herd cattle, Andes Mountains, Ecuador

Konrad Wothe / Ulysses Butterfly (Papilio ulysses) on plant stem, Indonesia

Birgitte Wilms / Golden Cownose Ray (Rhinoptera steindachneri) group underwater shot from below, group of ten, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Norbert Wu / Scuba diver exploring ice caves below Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) breathing holes, life below feeds on seal feces, Antarctica

Hiroya Minakuchi / Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) surfacing to breath, largest animal on earth, Sea Cortez, Baja California, Mexico

Heidi & Hans-Juergen Koch / Dione Rat Snake (Elaphe dione) beginning to shed its skin, native to Europe and Asia

Sumio Harada / Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus) standing in wind, Glacier National Park, Montana

Gerry Ellis / Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) nesting colony with mud nests, Inagua National Park, Bahamas

Tim Fitzharris / Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) on Delphinium, New Mexico

Matthias Breiter / Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) male displaying in front of female in lek, Australia

Matthias Breiter / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) cub, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Chris Newbert / Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), Kona, Hawaii

Konrad Wothe / Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) pair sitting together in woods, back view, Bayerischer Wald National Park, Germany

Konrad Wothe / Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) trio on edge of ice, Antarctica

Jim Brandenburg / Elk (Cervus elaphus) herd, National Elk Refuge, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Flip Nicklin / Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) tail, New Zealand

Michio Hoshino / Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) tail at sunset, Alaska

Mitsuaki Iwago / African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) mother and calf walking together side by side, Kenya

Flip Nicklin / Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) tail, New Zealand

Flip Nicklin / Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) tail, New Zealand