< link rel =" stylesheet " href =" http : / / editor . daum . net / services / blog / css / contents 4 view . css ? ver = 1 . 1 . 114 " type =" text / css "/>< link rel =" stylesheet " href =" http : / / editor . daum . net / services / blog / css / theme 4 view . css ? ver = 1 . 1 . 114 " type =" text / css "/> 지구촌 생태 계 의 최고 걸작 사진 들 ( 2012 ) Best nature pictures of 2012 This is a compilation of images in which photographers have captured the beauty of our world , along with great moments among the living things we share this planet with . Most are from the reoccurring photo gallery The Natural World , in which photos of animals and our environment are selected from the many wire service photos moved throughout the year from all over the world . Many great photos of animals are taken in zoos , but this entry mostly shows creatures in their own habitat . - Leanne Burden Seidel ( 53 photos total ) A lenticular cloud formed as high winds blew over the rugged Crazy Mountains in Montana . Lenticular clouds are stationary lens - shaped clouds that form at high altitudes . ( James Woodcock , Billings Gazette via Associated Press ) 2 A Japanese snow monkey relaxed in a hot spring in the Jigokudani valley in northern Nagano Prefecture , Japan . ( Nick Ut / Associated Press ) # 3 Storm clouds gathered over Gorzow Wielkopolski , Poland . ( Lech Musynski / EPA ) # 4 Birds sat on the partly frozen river Elbe in Dresden , Germany . ( Matthias Rietschel / dapd via Associated Press ) # 5 A bumble bee collected pollen from a blooming crocus in Gelsenkirchen , Germany , on the first day of spring . ( Martin Meissner / Associated Press ) # 6 Snow covered trees in Rubi , Spain . ( Manu Fernandez / Associated Press ) # 7 Seagulls were silhouetted against the sun on a mild afternoon in Boston . ( Brian Snyder / Reuters ) # 8 Walker the polar bear ( right ) met with new male companion Arktos at the Highland Wildlife Park in Kingussie , Scotland . It is hoped that 4 - year - old Arktos , and the year younger , slightly smaller Walker will establish a relationship of friendly competitiveness . ( Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images ) # 9 A coral on a reef in the Kenting National Park spawned in Taiwan . Coral spawning usually takes place by the 23 d day of the third month of the lunar calendar , which fell on April 13 this year . ( Tsai Yung - chun / Reuters ) # 10 A Spiren shrub bloomed in the Central Park Conservatory Garden in New York . ( Stan Honda / AFP / Getty Images ) # 11 Birds perched on a branch during a spring snowstorm in Pembroke , N . Y . ( David Duprey / Associated Press ) # 12 Fitzroy dolphins jumped in the waters off Puerto Madryn , Argentina . ( Maxi Jonas / Reuters ) # 13 A giant panda sat in a tree at a breeding center in Dujiangyan , China . The giant panda is among six young giant pandas which were bred in captivity and were released as a group of " pioneers " into an enclosed forest in Sichuan province . ( China Daily / Reuters ) # 14 A mole emerged from the dirt in Godewaersvelde , France . ( Philippe Huguen / AFP / GettyImages ) # 15 An egret waited for its prey at the reclaimed area in Manila Bay known as Freedom Island in Paranaque , Philippines . ( Bullit Marquez / Associated Press ) # 16 Seasonal winter storms lashed boats at anchor off Cape Town ' s Sea Point promenade . The Cape Peninsula has long been known as the " Cape of Storms " among sailors whose wrecked vessels have been scattered along the coastline at the southern tip of Africa for 400 years . ( Mike Hutchings / Reuters ) # 17 Cherry trees bloomed in an orchard in Ockstadt - Friedberg , Germany . ( EMILY WABITSCH / AFP / Getty Images ) # 18 An apiaceae was covered with snow in front of a clear sky near Elbingerode , Germany . ( Matthias Bein / AFP / Getty Images ) # 19 A goose rested on the snow at Skopje Zoo in Macedonia . ( Ognen Teofilovski / Reuters ) # 20 Horsetail Falls glowed just before sunset at Yosemite National Park in California . ( Phil Hawkins / Reuters ) # 21 Colored leaves hung on a tree at the garden of Pillnitz Castle near Dresden , Germany . ( Arno BurgiI / AFP / Getty Images ) # 22 A damselfly rested on a turtle in a lake in the outskirts of Cali , Colombia . Colombia has the second largest biodiversity in the world . ( Luis Robayo / AFP / Getty Image # 23 A squirrel defended its food against a pigeon after snowfall in central park in Minsk , Belarus . ( Sergei Grits / Associated Press ) # 24 Monkeys enjoyed a cold bath in a pond during a hot day in a rural neighborhood north of Bangkok . The Thai capital is seeing its hottest average temperatures in 30 years . ( Sukree Sukplang / Reuters ) # 25 Elephants gathered during the night to drink at a watering hole in Tsavo East National Park , Kenya . Seeing a dire situation grow worse , the animal conservation group World Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) enlisted religious leaders in the fight to end the slaughter of Africa ' s elephants and rhinos by poachers , hoping that religion can help save some of the world ' s most majestic animals . ( Ben Curtis / Associated Press ) # 26 Incandescent materials , ash and smoke were spewed from the Popocatepetl Volcano as seen from the Santiago Xalitxintla , in the Mexican central state of Puebla . ( Yuri Cortez / AFP / Getty Images ) # 27 Fall colors and the sunlit web of a labyrinthine orb weaver spider created an interesting mosaic in Fredericksburg , Va . ( Dave Ellis / The Free Lance - Star via Associated Press ) # 28 A mountain gorilla bared its teeth in a clearing in Virunga national park near Bunagana in the Democratic Republic of Congo . ( James Akena / Reuters ) # 29 A morpho peleides butterfly laid its eggs while two ants surround one egg in Butterfly Garden in La Guacima , Costa Rica . ( Juan Carlos Ulate / Reuters ) # 30 A red fox sat in the grass as a magpie dived toward it in a field east of Walla Walla , Wash . ( Jeff Horner / Walla Walla Union - Bulletin via Associated Press ) # 31 A male wild leopard climbed a net after it fell into a water reservoir tank at a tea estate in Haskhowa , West Bengal , India . ( Diptendu Dutta / AFP / GettyImages ) # 32 A gosling looked for food during a rain shower at Fancher - Davidge Park in Middletown , N . Y . ( Tom Bushey / Times Herald - Record via Associated Press ) # 33 A lizard suns itself on a rock on the Galapagos Pinzon Island , Ecuador . ( Dolores Ochoa / Associated Press ) # 34 Barn owl chicks sat in a box in Israel ' s Beit Shean Valley near the border with Jordan . ( Baz Ratner / Reuters ) # 35 A penguin swam off Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro . Penguins arrive from the Antarctic Circle on ice floes that melt in the vicinity of Brazil ' s shore , and the birds wash up on Rio beaches every winter . ( Ricardo Moraes / Reuters ) # 36 Dewdrops ran down a blade of grass near Trauchgau , southern Germany . ( Karl - Josef Hildenbrand / AFP / GettyImages ) # 37 An egret stood on a ship mooring rope in Rio de Janeiro . ( Ricardo Moraes / Reuters ) # 38 Long - tailed mayflies mated on the surface of the Tisza river near Tiszainoka , Hungary . ( Laszlo Balogh / Reuters ) # 39 A lion cub walked in Tanzania ' s Serengeti National Park . ( Noor Khamis / Reuters ) # 40 A thunderstorm moved over trees and a silo on a farm near Wichita , Kan . ( Orlin Wagner / Associated Press ) # 41 Swirls of green and red appeared in an aurora over Whitehorse , Yukon . The aurora was due to the interaction of a coronal mass ejection ( CME ) from the sun with Earth ' s magnetosphere . ( David Cartier , Sr . / NASA via Reuters ) # 42 An Indian Myna held a grasshopper for its chicks in a nest built inside the wall of an underpass in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi . ( Parivartan Sharma / Reuters ) # 43 A tasselled wobbegong shark was seen lying on the substratum with the head of a brown - banded bamboo shark in its mouth during an underwater visual census of fishes on the fringing reef of Great Keppel Island on the Great Barrier Reef . ( Reuters ) # 44 Morning fog rose from vineyards near Escherndorf , Germany . ( Karl - Josef Hildenbrand / AFP / GettyImages ) # 45 Garden birds fought for a spot at a feeder in a Johannesburg garden . ( Denis Farrell / Associated Press ) # 46 A young gray seal appeared in partly frozen water at a breeding station in Friedrichskoog , Germany . ( Carsten Rehder / AFP / Getty Images ) # 47 Morning dew hung in a spider ' s web in Seeburg , Germany . ( Julian Stratenschulte / AFP / Getty Images ) # 48 Surface melt water rushed along the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet through a supra - glacial stream channel , southwest of Ilulissat . Polar ice sheets are now melting three times faster than in the 1990 s , and that ' s added less than half an inch to already rising global sea levels , a new giant scientific study says . The acceleration of the melting , especially in Greenland , has ice scientists worried . ( Ian Joughin / Associated Press ) # 49 A whale shark swam beside a diver in the Galapagos Islands . Galapagos National Park , Charles Darwin Foundation ( CDF ) and the University of California - Davis , made satellite tagging of whale sharks in order to understand this species locally , regionally and globally in the migration process patterns . ( Jonathan Green / Galapagos National Park via Reuters ) # 50 Lightning struck the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya , north of Tel Aviv . ( Jack Guez / AFP / Getty Images ) # 51 A mother bear and two cubs , spooked by noise from TV helicopters , peered from a tree in Altadena , Calif . ( Nick Ut / Associated Press ) # 52 Honey bees at a farm on the outskirts of Sanaa , Yemen . ( Mohamed al - Sayaghi / Reuters ) # 53 A loggerhead turtle hatchling made its way to the surf at Myrtle Beach State Park in Myrtle Beach , S . C . . ( Randall Hill / Reuters ) # More links and informationThe Natural World - Boston . comThe year in pictures - Boston . comThe year in pictures - Boston . com < Back to front page Previous entryNext entry