Instagram Spotlight: Celebrating One Billion Likes

Last week, the @NatGeo Instagram feed surpassed one billion total “likes.” To celebrate, we sought out some of the most liked pictures contributed by our photographers since the account’s debut on March 23, 2012. Some patterns emerged: You love dramatic landscapes and making eye contact with exotic animals. In fact, the Most Popular Animal award goes to the panda—which has appeared in five of the fourteen most popular ‘grams.

Ahead, beloved dispatches from Steve Winter, David Doubilet, Michael Yamashita, Beverly Joubert, John Stanmeyer, Drew Rush, Ami Vitale, and Andy Bardon.

Look into these eyes! Stop the demand and the killing can too. There

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