Nat Geo has developed an insurmountable reputation for delivering some of the greatest images from across the globe ever put to print – and here are a selection of the magazine’s favourites from 2016 (the full list can be found here).
This stunning image of a 16-year-old giant panda called Ye Ye was taken by Ami Vitale at a conservation centre in the heart of China's Wolong Nature Reserve. It first appeared in August as part of the article Pandas Get to Know Their Wild Side by Jennifer S. Holland.
Tim Laman captured this Bornean oranguation at a height of 100 feet as the animal was tempted up into the upper heights of the jungle canopy by the lure of a strangler fig. This image accompanied the article Inside the Private Lives of Orangutans by Mel White, which first appeared in December.
Parts of Yellowstone are now becoming wilder than they've been in a century - Charlie Hamilton James captured this grizzly bear in Gran Teton National Park, as it fed on a bison carcass surrounded by opportunistic ravens. The image was originally published in May as part of Learning to Let the Wild be Wild in Yellowstone by David Quammen.
This cute infant African white-bellied pangolin was shot by Joel Sartore for Rachel Hartigan Shea's April feature Documenting the World's Animals, One Shot at a Time. Pangolins are the most trafficked animal in the world - in September several new rules were implemented in order to try and curb this illegal market. 
Sometimes human endeavour can match nature in terms of awe-inspiring beauty - Dina Livotsky's nightime image of Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, captures this moment perfectly. It was first seen as part of Getaway Game: Taipei in 72 Hours - written by Mickey Rapkin and included in National Geographic Traveler.
It's no secret that animals across the world need our protection - Brent Stirton's image of park rangers undergoing military-style training in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park was originally published in July as part of Robert Draper's Inside the Fight to Save One of the World's Most Dangerous Parks.
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