@natgeo @stevewinterphoto
A male lion not wanting to share his food. Animals have emotions just like us – even bad ones!
Zakouma NP is just one of 15 parks managed by conservation NGO @africanparksnetwork . If you want to see wild plains teeming with lions, leopards, herds of elephants, giraffe, and now rhinos (they just reintroduced black rhinos after a 50-year absence) and no tourists - go to Zakouma - check out the lodges there and in the other parks the manage in 8 other countries via their website. Tourism revenue goes back to the parks they manage and important community projects like education, healthcare and improved livelihoods.
What is happening in Zakouma is one of the most hopeful stories in conservation. The park was once ravaged by poaching and insecurity. More than 4,000 elephants, which was 95% of the population, were slaughtered between 2002 to 2010 for the sale of their ivory – and poachers wreaked havoc on both the wildlife and people who lived there. By 2010, only 450 elephants remained. That same year, @africanparksnetwork signed a long-term agreement with the government of Chad to fully manage Zakouma and change the trajectory of the park. They built a ranger team and implemented effective law enforcement measures and community networks, and today poaching has been practically eliminated. The elephant population is finally on the rise for the first time in a decade. Elephants have surpassed 550 individuals, and not one has been lost to poaching since January 2016. Last year @africanparksnetwork counted 81 elephant calves under the age of three years old; in 2011 they counted one. Without the support of local communities this would not work. The park is the largest employer in the region; thousands of people are getting an education and healthcare, and decency and civility, along with life, have found their back to this once forgotten place. To learn more about Zakouma and other truly hopeful conservation efforts happening across Africa, please follow @africanparksnetwork
Melissani Cave - Greece 
Picture by @thiago.lopez
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#wonderful_places for a feature
Morning Breath | Photograph by Aya Iwasaki
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Wild red foxes, also called kitsune, play in the snow on Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's islands. Foxes are common in Japanese folklore, often displaying magical properties.
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Today we are featuring @natgeoyourshot photographs selected for @natgeo “Photo of the Day.” To see more, go to natgeo.com/pod. #YourShotPhotographer
“Being authentic with my fans is very important to me,” says Teala Dunn (@ttlyteala), an actress and creator who’s at @vidcon this weekend in Anaheim, California, celebrating all things online video. What’s the 21-year-old most looking forward to? “I especially want to meet new creators I’ve never met in person, and create amazing content.” 
IGTV is a new app and a new space within Instagram for watching long-form, vertical video from your favorite Instagram creators. Update your app now to watch to see what Teala’s been up to at #VidCon — on our story today and on our IGTV channel.
- what about you, would you rather shoot in a city or nature?
Glad Midsommar! The Swedish-American community of Lindsborg, Kansas, celebrates Midsummer by wearing traditional Swedish folk costumes and dancing around the town's maypole. Traditionally a pagan summer solstice and fertility holiday throughout northern Europe, Midsummer today is a continued celebration of long days and the start of summer. Photo by @ErikaSkogg who is working on a visual preservation project of Scandinavian-American heritage. #Midsummer #Midsommar
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@ackermangruber) Happy National Take Your Dog to Work Day from DogsOf + @lucyand.co where pups rule EVERYDAY! Does your job allow you to bring your pets to work? We’d love to know! We’ve always been huge supporters of pet-friendly workplaces and are encouraged to see more and more workplaces making that their everyday policy! #nationaltakeyourdogtoworkday #dogsofinstagram
Photo by @renaeffendiphoto:
A #family on a Sunday picnic in Parque Lenin, Lenin's Park, a popular weekend destination at the south side of #Havana, #Cuba. #children