World Of Nature

We share our world with many other species and live in an ever-changing environment. Fortunately, photographers around the world have captured the moments and beauty that allow us to see amazing views of this awe-inspiring planet. This is a collection of favorite photos from The Natural World gallery in 2011, a showcase of images of animals and environment that runs on Boston.com throughout the year. Next week's posts will take a look at the year in photos, so stay tuned. -Leanne Burden Seidel 

Seahorses are displayed at an endangered species exhibition at London Zoo. ( Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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A buffalo cools off in a pond in the outskirts of Jammu in Kashmir. (Mukesh Gupta/Reuters) #

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Lightning flashes around the ash plume of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain near Entrelagos, Chile. (Carlos Gutierrez/Reuters) #

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An Abyssinian Colobus baby yawns at the Nogeyama Zoological Gardens in Yokohama, Japan. (Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press) #

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Clouds roll in and out of Paris, Texas, behind the Eiffel Tower replica. (Sam Craft/The Paris News via Associated Press)#

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A zebra stands in its enclosure in the Berlin zoo. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A lion's mane jellyfish swims beneath the waters at the Farne Islands, England. The archipelago of 16 to 28 separate islands (depending on the tide) off Northumberland is a summer home to many kinds of wildlife. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) #

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A female Amur tiger, Iris, licks its 7-week-old cub during one of their first walks in an open-air cage at the Royev Ruchey zoo in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The Amur tiger is an endangered species. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters) #

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A snake at a snake farm in Zisiqiao village, also known as the snake town, in Zhejiang Province, China. Residents raise more than 3 million snakes a year for food and medicinal purposes. (Aly Song/Reuters)#

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A swarm of bees, partly loaded with pollen, returns to its hive in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Frank Rumpenhorst/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A one-week-old jaguar cub plays with her mother Rosa Salvaje at the National Zoo in Managua, Nicaragua. (Esteban Felix/Associated Press)#

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A water bird flies over a Danube Delta canal next to Tulcea city, east of Bucharest. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A rare baby Siamese crocodile hatches from an egg at the Lao Zoo outside Vientiane, Laos. Last month, 20 baby crocodiles were hatched from eggs found in a lake in southern Laos; they will eventually be released into the wild. (Wildlife Conservation Society/Associated Press)#

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Two 3-month-old crowned lemurs lay on their mother's back at the zoo in Mulhouse, France. Every year there are about 250 to 350 births at the Mulhouse zoo. (Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images)#

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Horses fight during the Rapa Das Bestas traditional event in Sabucedo, Spain. Hundreds of wild horses are rounded up, trimmed, and groomed in Spain's northwestern region of Galicia on the first weekend of July. (Miguel Vidal/Reuters) #

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A swan walks through a green field in Kamp-Lintfort, Germany. (Roland Weihrauch/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A chameleon waits to be weighed and measured in the reptile house at the London Zoo. Every year the keepers record the heights and weights of more than 750 different species in the International Species Information System, where they can be shared with zoos across the world. (Ki Price/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Iblis, an Asiatic lion, plays with a recycled Christmas tree in his enclosure at the Chester Zoo in England. Unsold Christmas trees donated to the zoo are used in the animal enrichment program. (Phil Noble/Reuters) #

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A pony grazes in a meadow at sunset in Lausanne, Switzerland. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A murmuration of starlings fill the evening sky above Gretna, Scotland. (Scott Heppell/Associated Press)#

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Water drops cling to the bottom of a leaf in Harrisonburg, Va. (Justin Falls/Daily News Record, via Associated Press) #

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Kamchatka brown bear Mascha and one of her two 3-month-old cubs nuzzle in Hagenbecks Zoo in Hamburg, Germany. (Fabian Bimmer/Reuters) #

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Ana Julia Torres kisses Jupiter, a lion rescued from a circus 12 years ago, at Villa Lorena shelter, in Cali, Colombia. Torres, 52, a teacher, founded the shelter, which protects about 600 animals seized from drug traffickers, circuses, animal traffickers, or abandoned by their owners. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Lesser flamingoes rest on their only breeding ground, Lake Natron, at the foot of Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Marine life is rich in the Indonesian waters of Raja Ampat between the Pacific and Indian oceans. (Ebram Harimurti/AFP/Getty Images) #