© Brent Stirton, Reportage by Getty Images/National Geographic

A National Geographic magazine investigative report by Bryan Christy reveals that representatives of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and Buddhists in Thailand are connected to illegal ivory trading. Demand for religious art is an overlooked piece of the illegal ivory trade, which fueled the slaughter of at least 25,000 elephants last year. The full report appears in the October issue of National Geographic magazine. View the fully gallery of images by photographer Brent Stirton on their website.

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© Vincent J Musi.

National Geographic photographer Vince J Musi is an award winning photographer whose unique take on animal photography was recognized in the 2011 PDN Photo Annual. The early deadline for the 2012 Photo Annual is TODAY at midnight PST. The image above  is from a story on wild things bred for their aggressive behavior. Scientists in Novosibirsk, Russia, are comparing these rats to those bred for friendliness to understand the connection between genetics and behavior.

© Frans Lanting/National Geographic

Photographer Frans Lanting’s surreal landscape of Namibia’s Dead Vlei in the June issue of National Geographic magazine has many asking whether it’s a painting or photograph. Lanting took a break from his current assignment in Africa to discuss the photograph, the result of a “perfect moment” that “came when the sun reached all the way down to the bottom of the sand dune just before it reached the desert floor.”

All Photos © Carsten Peter/National Geographic. Above: The lava at Nyiragongo is made of an alkali-rich volcanic rock; its unusual composition may be a factor in the lava’s fluidity.

Photographer Carsten Peter descended into the fiery center of Nyiragongo—an active volcano towering over a city of one million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—for the April issue of National Geographic magazine.  See Carsten and his team explore the depths of Nyiragongo in Man vs. Volcano on the National Geographic channel. To see more of Carsten Peter’s work click here.

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All photos © Mark Leong.

Mark Leong’s photos from National Geographic’s January 2010 story, Asian Wildlife Trade, took first place in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. An investigative piece written by Bryan Christy, this project has had far-reaching impact and is credited with helping to prompt changes in enforcement of anti-smuggling laws in Malaysia.

At the Jatinegara Bird and Pet Market in Jakarta,West Java, wild-caught animals such as young long-tailed macaques are sold illegally alongside rabbits, goldfish and other legally traded, captive-bred pets. To stop them biting their owners, macaques have their sharp teeth blunted. Mark describes what happened when one pet-trader summoned him over to photograph how he did it. ‘He put his hand in the cage and pulled out one of the young macaques. It had seen what had happened to others and was squeaking with fear. Using pliers and a whetstone, the man trimmed and filed the monkey’s teeth. For many of these pictures, I shot with the focused remoteness that photography allows and sometimes requires. But for this shot I was right there with the macaque, imagining all that snapping and grinding being done to my teeth. It was excruciatingly painful to watch.’ – Mark Leong.

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