The Associated Press’ most striking images from nature in 2025 show existence as fragile as an albino turtle hatchling among its peers or a cicada’s translucent wings.
Beyond the headlines and sometimes dangerous human impacts on their worlds, animals and other creatures persist.
Click to Gallery
A stag is silhouetted as it walks through a forest in the Taunus region near Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
Butterflies gather around flowers along the Riverwalk, July 18, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
A peacock alights next to a pickup truck at Mack's Fish Camp, a family-owned airboat tour business and campground on the Eastern edge of the Everglades, May 28, 2025, near Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
A Drosera capensis plant traps an insect at a carnivorous plant exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
Brown marmorated stink bugs sit on a dandelion flower at a park in Tallinn, Estonia, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)
A stork couple is backdropped by the rising sun after a night of minus seven degrees Celsius (19.4 Fahrenheit) weather, on a field in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
A herd of sheep is guided through central Madrid, Spain, as shepherds lead them through the streets in defense of ancient grazing and migration rights, Oct. 19, 2025, in Madrid, Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
A Monitor Lizard rests on a tree inside the Kaziranga National Park in Kaziranga, India, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
Vultures fly over the decomposed body of an animal, unseen, in Jammu, India, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
An albino turtle hatchling sits among other Arrau turtles (podocnemis expansa) ahead of their release at the Abufari Biological Reserve, in Tapaua, Amazonas state, Brazil, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
A frog swims in a pond behind the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
Sandhill cranes are seen at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Jan. 13, 2025, in Decatur, Ala. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
A humpback whale breaches off the coast of Port Stephens north of Sydney, Australia, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
Migrating cranes flock at sunrise in Hula Lake conservation area, north of the Sea of Galilee, northern Israel, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
A golden snub-nosed monkey is seen in Shennongjia National Park in central China's Hubei province, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
A couple of White-tailed eagles fight while hunting at the Bosfor Vostochny channel in Vladivostok, Russia, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Anton Balashov, File)
A ladybug sits on a dandelion flower at a park in Tallinn, Estonia, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)
Mute swans float on the River Thames, Oct. 10, 2025, in Windsor, England. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
A female African elephant named Pupy stands in her enclosure at the Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 25, 2025, as she is trained for her relocation to a sanctuary in Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
A grey squirrel jumps amongst autumn leaves in a London park, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
The veins of an adult periodical cicada's translucent wings are illuminated shortly after shedding its nymphal skin after a heavy rain, May 16, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
A bee collects pollen from a blue salvia, part of the blue, green, and white flower color scheme at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
A raccoon eats peanuts on the boardwalk in Panama City, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Storks fly over fields in Buettelborn near Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
An adult periodical cicada, in the process of shedding its nymphal skin, is seen on May 20, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
A hummingbird drinks from a flower in a garden on the outfield lawn before a spring training baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Athletics, Feb. 24, 2025, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
A young wild horse stands by its mother in a meadow near the city of Duelmen, Germany, where the herd lives in almost unmanaged feral conditions, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
A polar bear is seen in front of an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country's Far East, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov, File)
A newborn chick looks out of the feathers of its mother at a farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
A polar bear sprawls outside an abandoned research station on an island off Russia, surrounded by grass, not snow.
A raccoon eats peanuts on a boardwalk in Panama City.
Sheep are herded through central Madrid.
The photos show a world without us and without borders, one of extraordinary beauty in the everyday.
A hummingbird is poised to sip from a flower.
A pollen-flecked ladybug explores a dandelion.
A humpback whale surfaces with a splash.
All things end. An insect is trapped in a glistening carnivorous plant. Vultures fly over an unseen carcass in India. Eagles clash while hunting.
And then, as a baby bird peeks from among its parents’ feathers, life begins again.
Photo editing by Courtney Dittmar and Anne-Marie Belgrave.
A stag is silhouetted as it walks through a forest in the Taunus region near Frankfurt, Germany, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
Butterflies gather around flowers along the Riverwalk, July 18, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
A peacock alights next to a pickup truck at Mack's Fish Camp, a family-owned airboat tour business and campground on the Eastern edge of the Everglades, May 28, 2025, near Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
A Drosera capensis plant traps an insect at a carnivorous plant exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
Brown marmorated stink bugs sit on a dandelion flower at a park in Tallinn, Estonia, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)
A stork couple is backdropped by the rising sun after a night of minus seven degrees Celsius (19.4 Fahrenheit) weather, on a field in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
A herd of sheep is guided through central Madrid, Spain, as shepherds lead them through the streets in defense of ancient grazing and migration rights, Oct. 19, 2025, in Madrid, Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
A Monitor Lizard rests on a tree inside the Kaziranga National Park in Kaziranga, India, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
Vultures fly over the decomposed body of an animal, unseen, in Jammu, India, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
An albino turtle hatchling sits among other Arrau turtles (podocnemis expansa) ahead of their release at the Abufari Biological Reserve, in Tapaua, Amazonas state, Brazil, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
A frog swims in a pond behind the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
Sandhill cranes are seen at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Jan. 13, 2025, in Decatur, Ala. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
A humpback whale breaches off the coast of Port Stephens north of Sydney, Australia, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
Migrating cranes flock at sunrise in Hula Lake conservation area, north of the Sea of Galilee, northern Israel, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
A golden snub-nosed monkey is seen in Shennongjia National Park in central China's Hubei province, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
A couple of White-tailed eagles fight while hunting at the Bosfor Vostochny channel in Vladivostok, Russia, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Anton Balashov, File)
A ladybug sits on a dandelion flower at a park in Tallinn, Estonia, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)
Mute swans float on the River Thames, Oct. 10, 2025, in Windsor, England. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
A female African elephant named Pupy stands in her enclosure at the Ecoparque in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 25, 2025, as she is trained for her relocation to a sanctuary in Brazil. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
A grey squirrel jumps amongst autumn leaves in a London park, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
The veins of an adult periodical cicada's translucent wings are illuminated shortly after shedding its nymphal skin after a heavy rain, May 16, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
A bee collects pollen from a blue salvia, part of the blue, green, and white flower color scheme at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
A raccoon eats peanuts on the boardwalk in Panama City, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Storks fly over fields in Buettelborn near Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
An adult periodical cicada, in the process of shedding its nymphal skin, is seen on May 20, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
A hummingbird drinks from a flower in a garden on the outfield lawn before a spring training baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Athletics, Feb. 24, 2025, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
A young wild horse stands by its mother in a meadow near the city of Duelmen, Germany, where the herd lives in almost unmanaged feral conditions, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
A polar bear is seen in front of an abandoned research station on Koluchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country's Far East, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Makhorov, File)
A newborn chick looks out of the feathers of its mother at a farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
