Among the Flowers. Martin Gregus watched this polar-bear cub playing in a mass of fireweed on the coast of Hudson Bay, Canada. Every so often, the cub would take a break from its fun, stand on its hind legs, and poke its head up above the high flowers to look for its mother. #

A Golden Huddle. Two female and one male golden snub-nosed monkey huddle together to keep warm in the extreme winter cold. Threatened mainly by forest loss and fragmentation, this endangered species is confined to central China. Restricted to living high up in the temperate forests, these monkeys—here in the Qinling Mountains, in Shaanxi province—feed mostly in the trees, on leaves, bark, buds, and lichen. #

Caribbean Crèche. Claudio Contreras Koob was lying down on the mud a safe distance from a breeding colony of Caribbean, or American, flamingos, in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. It was June, and the flamingo chicks had already left their nests and were in crèches. These crèches are always guarded by adult birds, so when the chicks began to approach Koob, the adults surrounded them and gently led them back to the colony. #

Head to Head. The spectacle of two female musk oxen attacking each other surprised Miquel Angel Artús Illana. For four days, he had been following a musk-ox family in Norway’s Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park—a male, a female, and three calves. On a beautiful high plateau, another similar-size family of musk ox appeared. Expecting a male head-to-head (it was September and the females were in heat), he was disappointed when the two males came to an immediate understanding and the weaker one backed off. It was then that the two females began their short but intense fight. #

Fishing for Glass Eels. Eladio Fernandez set out to highlight the plight of the endangered American eel. Caught in its juvenile stage, when it's known as a glass eel, it is exported in the millions each year to fulfill an insatiable Asian—particularly Japanese—demand. On the coast of the Dominican Republic, over five months, hundreds of fishermen gather around the estuaries from dawn to dusk to catch the little eels. #

Coastline Wolf. While out in his dinghy looking for black bears, Bertie Gregory spotted this female gray wolf trotting along the shoreline on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Taking a big wide arch, he looped around ahead of where he expected her to go. He then set up his remote camera, before returning to the dinghy and backing off. The wolf was patrolling her eel-grass-covered mudflat territory at low tide, and walked right past the camera, allowing Bertie to take this shot with the remote trigger. Sadly, this Vancouver Island wolf was later killed by a man who claimed to be protecting people’s pets. #

Heads or Tails? The unusually clear, flat sea in Monterey Bay, California, provides a beautiful turquoise backdrop for the glossy bodies of three northern right whale dolphins. #

Red and Yellow. Near Rausu port, on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, several hundred glaucous-winged gulls waited for the return of fishermen. It was the beginning of March and freezing, and the air was full of the raucous calls of the gulls overhead. Some of the birds began to settle, keeping their eyes on the horizon. Focusing on one bird, Chloé Bès composed a minimalist portrait, highlighting the eye and the beak. The red spot on the beak develops when gulls are adult and is in part a reflection of their health. #

Wasp Attack. The frenzied combat between the pompilid wasp and the ornate Ctenus spider suddenly stopped. An intense calm invaded the scene, said Roberto García-Roa, who had been watching the battle unfold in the Peruvian jungle of Tambopata. The image shows the wasp checking the spider to confirm whether its sting has paralyzed the dangerous prey, before dragging it back to its brood nest. #

That’s the Spot! In South Africa’s Kruger National Park, in the vicinity of a rest camp, Richard Flack discovered a flock of crested guinea fowl that were not as flighty as normal and allowed him to follow them as they foraged. One of the guinea fowl started to scratch another’s head and ear, and the recipient stood there motionless for a few moments with its mouth open and eyes wide, as if to say, "That's the spot; keep going." #

Holding On. This leopardess had killed a monkey in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park. The monkey’s baby was still alive and clinging to its mother. Igor Altuna watched as the predator walked calmly back to her own baby. Her cub played with the baby monkey for more than an hour before killing it, almost as if it had been given live prey as a hunting lesson. #

The Frog With the Ruby Eyes. The calls of male Mindo glass frogs could be heard all around this female, who was sitting quietly on a leaf. These frogs are confident around humans, and if you don't disturb them, you can set up your equipment nearby. Only found in northwest Ecuador, in the Río Manduriacu Reserve in the foothills of the Andes, these frogs are endangered by habitat loss associated with mining and logging. #

Fox Affection. On a chilly day in North Shore on Prince Edward Island, Canada, a pair of red foxes greet each other with an intimate nuzzle. The red fox’s mating season is in the winter, and it is common to see them together prior to denning. #

Night Encounter. It was late in the evening in August, and the air had a magical feel about it when Sami Vartiainen spotted this badger close to its sett in a forest near Helsinki, Finland. He watched it for 45 minutes. The badger didn’t seem to be perturbed, even though Vartiainen was only about 23 feet away. It sniffed the air, lay on the ground, and scratched or walked a short distance away, and a few times it went into its sett, always turning to look back in the photographer's direction. Finally, when it was virtually dark, the badger headed off into the night in search of food. #

World of the Snow Leopard. Against a backdrop of the spectacular mountains of Ladakh in northern India, a snow leopard has been caught in a perfect pose by Sascha Fonseca’s carefully positioned camera trap. Thick snow blankets the ground, but the big cat’s dense coat and furry foot pads keep it warm. Fonseca captured this image during a three-year bait-free camera-trap project high up in the Indian Himalayas. #