<p>A macaque grips a wall at the Padangtegal Temple in Bali, Indonesia. "There is a strong mystery component to this image, and that is what makes it special," Yadav says.&nbsp;</p>

Mystery Hand

A macaque grips a wall at the Padangtegal Temple in Bali, Indonesia. "There is a strong mystery component to this image, and that is what makes it special," Yadav says. 

Photograph by Stevyn D., National Geographic Your Shot

Your Best Pictures of Animals Living in Cities

A cheeky fox rests on a car in London and a bear explores a backyard in a new collection of urban wildlife around the globe.

Prasenjeet Yadav had a beast of a project before him: sifting through thousands of photographs of urban wildlife taken around the world.

In November 2015, the National Geographic Young Explorer and photographer asked the Your Shot photography community to explore their own cities and send him the most incredible photos of the critters they saw.

They had mere weeks and some clear rules, such as no domesticated animals allowed. (Sorry, lolcat fans.)

"Looking through more than 15,000 images and compiling a story out of 27 was one of the hardest things that I have ever done," Yadav, who is based in Bangalore, India, says by email.

But the project “created something special,” he adds, by reminding us how alive our cities really are.

Yadav’s final selection of your urban wildlife photos ranges from deer munching on a suburban buffet in England to a bird’s-eye view of pigeons in Kuwait. The results show that we’re "surrounded by urban wildlife, but unfortunately we tend to ignore the beauty in them," he says.

"It’s high time that we bring attention to these species."

—Writing by Christine Dell'Amore. Photo editing by Jeanne Modderman.

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