National Geographic | National Geographic

National Geographic

OUR FASCINATION
WITH WILDLIFE

Saturday, December 3, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we discover how COVID can destroy connections in your brain, admire this year’s brilliant wildlife photos, see which herbs can help ward off cold and flu … and re-open an age-old debate about swimming dinosaurs. Plus, join our photo contest!

Two women push strollers across sea ice

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN GREGUS, JR.

Polar bears off the ice. Leopards resting in a tree. Swaying eels on the ocean floor.
Few things are as enveloping as an image of wildlife at work, at play, or (above) asleep in a patch of fireweed in summertime Manitoba.

From thousands of images, National Geographic chose these 21 pictures to reflect the rich variety of Earth’s life. Enjoy!

Here are our top animal photos of the year.

Please consider getting our full digital report and magazine by subscribing here.

A picture of a fish with lots of camouflage tendrils

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID LIITTSCHWAGER

Masters of disguise: Ribboned pipefish (pictured above), like related seahorses or sea dragons, often have to camouflage themselves to stay alive. The family of fish are known for long snouts, fused jaws, bony body armor, and males that incubate eggs. From: The weird, wondrous world of seahorses.

A picture of two leopards in a tree

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHAAZ JUNG

A spot for romance: Leopards court in a flowering coral tree on a misty winter morning in southern India’s Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. Anti-poaching measures have allowed both big cat species to thrive. From: In this dense Indian forest, tigers and leopards are thriving.

A picture of two fish swimming through a field of swaying eels

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID DOUBILET

Swaying: A two-spot wrasse and a cornetfish swim through a colony of garden eels near Negros Island, Philippines. Social but shy, the eels vanish into their holes when disturbed, says photographer and Nat Geo Explorer David Doubilet. From: Coral reefs in the Philippines are some of the world’s most vibrant.

See all 21 images.

STORIES WE'RE FOLLOWING

A picture of a shark

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHANE GROSS, MINDEN PICTURES

The shark fin trade is dealt new regulations—a major win for sharks worldwide (like the lemon shark above)

How a convert was key to spreading early Christianity

Brain fog? Here's how COVID clips the connections in your brain

See the 22 discoveries of the year

Oat? Rice? Almond? Which milk alternative is the most eco-friendly?

11 people sentenced to death in murder of conservationist in Tanzania

Could dinosaurs swim? A new fossil revives a long debate.

There’s no scientific basis for race

7 herbs that may help fight cold and flu

Photo contest: Send us your favorite image of the year!

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A portrait of an older woman in a darkroom

PHOTOGRAPH BY PETE MULLER

Learning at home: The mother of photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Pete Muller sits in a darkroom where Pete often accompanied her on assignments growing up. “In those hours in the darkroom, as my mother made enlargements and I ran the prints through the chemicals, she did her best to explain to me what was motivating some of the difficulties we'd captured that day,” he tells us. “This was really the beginning of my social education.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A picture of a woman wearing a long dress in a snow-covered landscape

PHOTOGRAPH BY @ESTHERHORVATH

Show Yourself: Arctic researcher Katie Sipes knew she’d be spending time in the far reaches of Norway, scenery that inspired the movie Frozen. So she packed along a costume of her favorite character, Elsa, on a permafrost expedition, and Esther Horvath photographed her in costume during a break. Her day job is urgent, Sipes tells Horvath. “This endangered ecosystem,” Sipes says, “is on the cusp of being lost forever.”

LAST GLIMPSE

A picture of a photographer talking to a seated model

PHOTOGRAPH BY ESTHER RUTH MBABAZI

Dignified models: When Nat Geo Explorer Esther Ruth Mbabazi (above, left) arrived at a Ugandan center for women with special needs, she asked the women a rare question: How would you like to be photographed? They said they wanted to be seen as capable, equal, and intelligent—ways people with disabilities are rarely viewed in Uganda, Nat Geo reports.

RADIANT PORTRAITS

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Jen Tse, and Sydney Combs. Amanda Williams-Bryant, Alec Egamov, Rita Spinks, and Jeremy Brandt-Vorel also contributed this week. Have an idea? We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for reading!

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

We'd like to hear from you! Tell us what you think of our emails by sharing your feedback in this short survey.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Clicking on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and National Geographic Channel links will take you away from our National Geographic Partners site where different terms of use and privacy policy apply.

This email was sent to: [email protected]. Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored.

This email contains an advertisement from:
National Geographic | 1145 17th Street, N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20036

Stop all types of future commercial email from National Geographic regarding its products, services, or experiences.

Manage all email preferences with the Walt Disney Family of Companies.

© 2022 National Geographic Partners, LLC, All rights reserved.