Faciole\u2019s\u00a0jaguar\u00a0portrait is just one of the\u00a0top\u00a0wildlife photos of 2025, selected by the photography staff at National Geographic. All together, they\u00a0transport\u00a0us to unique environments worldwide and give us\u00a0rare\u00a0glimpses\u00a0of creatures both familiar and strange.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A beaver gnawing into a tree, captured by\u00a0Ronan Donovan<\/a>, a National Geographic Storytelling Fellow,\u00a0represents\u00a0the unappreciated superpower of these creatures to fireproof large tracts of land and\u00a0protect ecosystems from the consequences of climate change<\/a>.\u00a0Other photographers capture\u00a0rare\u00a0moments in time,\u00a0like\u00a0the motion of a\u00a0meerkat<\/a>\u00a0in a photo by Thomas\u00a0Peschack, or a\u00a0Japanese giant mantis\u00a0striking\u00a0a lizard\u00a0in a photo by\u00a0Takura Ishiguro<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Such photos can also be important for science. Researchers found fish interacting with anemones in surprising ways,\u00a0such as using them as shields<\/a>,\u00a0in images from underwater photographer\u00a0Linda Ianniello<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the photographers, the moment of capturing a stunning scene in nature is as powerful as any eureka moment in science.\u00a0After photographer\u00a0Roie Galitz<\/a> heard about a\u00a0sperm whale carcass drifting north of the Arctic circle,\u00a0he re-directed an ice-breaker vessel to the scene and flew a drone to get epic aerial shots of the whale and polar bears<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was flying the drone, I was shouting and cursing, just because as a photographer you get really excited,\u201d Galitz laughs. \u201cThe day I stop being excited is the day I stop taking photos.\u201d<\/p>\n