nature images - Joel Sartore

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Along the shores of Leech Lake, Minnesota.

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An open window leads to the back woods near Lake Champlain.

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Horses are ridden through King’s Canyon National Park.

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A horse and rider lead a string of pack animals in King’s Canyon National Park, California, USA.

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An aerial view of Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front.

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Peach-leaf bellflower (Campanula persicifolia alba) in Crosslake, Minnesota.

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A non-irrigated field of corn near Bennet, Nebraska.

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A herd of pronghorns graze near gas drilling rigs sunset near Pinedale, Wyoming.

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Three bison roam on a ranch near Valentine, Nebraska.

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A herd of bison roam on a ranch near Valentine, Nebraska.

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A herd of bison roam on a ranch near Valentine, Nebraska.

A US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) employee searches for the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) near Austin, Nevada.

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A US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) employee searches for the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) near Austin, Nevada.

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For the first time in decades, wolves again chase elk through the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone. The reintroduction of wolves has been a great success, drawing a new generation of visitors to the park.

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The National Aviary of Colombia (Aviario Nacional de Colombia).

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An umbrella, or white, cockatoo (Cacatua alba) at the Bramble Park Zoo.

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American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) at the Sutton Avian Research Center.

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A seeded eucalyptus (Eucalyptus polyanthemos).

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A Seeded eucalyptus (Eucalyptus polyanthemos).

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A federally endangered captive gray wolf, Canis lupus, licks his nose.

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Bull trout swim 50 miles upstream from Lake Koocanusa to spawn in the Wigwam River drainage.

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A male sage grouse splays tail feathers to attract a mate.

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With the great antelope herds gone, dung beetles now make use of horse manure along Lake Albert in the Albertine Rift of Uganda.

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A warthog lies down and gets cleaned of parasites by a group of banded mongoose near Mweya Lodge. This is the only place in the world where such a ‘mammal cleaning station’ is known.

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A waterbuck is surrounded by cattle inside Queen Elizabeth National Park. The cattle are in the park illegally, and conflicts arise daily when lions find the cows to be easy prey.

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Baboons near the Ishasha section of QENP.

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At dusk, a hippo stares down a remote camera placed at a favorite water hole in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda.

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An infrared camera trap captures hyenas near their den in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.

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A lioness feeds on the remains of a cow inside Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. As the human population grows in East Africa, more cattle are pushed into the park, leading to more lion kills–and more poisoning of the lions by cattlemen.

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Giraffe can be found in great numbers again in Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park, but perhaps not for long. The government has been approving oil drilling, which will introduce more roads and disrupt the animals in their already reduced and fragile habitat.