When it comes to parenting images, animal dads are often overshadowed by doting moms. But some males sit on eggs, feed their young, and carry kids on their back. Male emperor penguins (one shown above at Snow Hill Island in Antartica) produce crop milk, which they feed to their chicks by regurgitating it from a pouch located in their throats.
Bears (black, Kermode, and grizzly) are paramount species in British Columbia. They play an important role in First Nations culture and are an important source of income for local stakeholders in terms of tourism and recreational activities. 1/5
Photographer Daisy Gilardini
Photographer Daisy Gilardini captured these social animals in the Makgadikgadi salt pans of northeastern Botswana. The open, flat landscape covered by acacia shrubs and grassland is the ideal habitat for the meerkats, whose large communities fascinated Daisy. “They sleep in burrows at night and leave at the first rays of sun in the morning. After warming up in the sun for a few minutes, they take off on their daily hunt,” she tells us. “A handful of colony members serve as lookouts, watching out for predators like eagles, hawks, and jackals, while the others forage for food, which may include birds, lizards, insects, and fruit.”
Ice means life: Pregnant harp seals are picky about which ice floes they give birth on—they have to be. If the ice isn’t thick enough to resist storms and waves, their pups (like the one above) can fall into the water and die. Last year, sea ice covering prime mating ground in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was the lowest ever on record.