One of the great things about wildlife photography is how it allows us to bear witness to the whole cycle of life. There’s perhaps no better example of this than the images celebrated in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards, put on by London’s Natural History Museum. They showcase adults caring for their young, animals looking for food and sheltering from storms, and wildlife just doing their level best to survive.
Below, you’ll find some of the best images given highly commended status this year, together with the overall winner: a particularly poignant shot captured in southern Africa.
The overall winner of the competition was “The Aftermath” by Italian photographer Federico Veronesi. The photo, taken in Namibia, documents a female African elephant carrying a dead calf—a rare glimpse of how these animals behave around death. Credit: Federico Veronesi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year“Mutual Friends” by South African photographer Ernest Porter features a red-billed oxpecker cleaning its bill with the help of a rhino. These oxpeckers snack on insects on the skins of rhinos, and alert them to dangerous animals that may be approaching. Credit: Ernest Porter/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
This curious polar bear was captured by an underwater camera set up in the Arctic by Audun Rikardsen from Norway, in a photo called “Icy Window.” Seals make these breathing holes for surfacing, but it also leaves them vulnerable to polar bears looking for food. Credit: Audun Rikardsen/Wildlife Photographer of the YearPrasenjeet Yadav, a molecular biologist turned National Geographic photographer from India, used a hidden camera trap in India’s Similipal Tiger Reserve to secure a shot of a rare black tiger. Credit: Prasenjeet Yadav/Wildlife Photographer of the YearThe name “Split-Second Escape” gives you an idea of what you’re looking at in this image by German photographer Jens Cullmann: A lunging African bullfrog thinks it’s about to chow down on an African babul butterfly, but the butterfly somehow manages to make its escape. Credit: Jens Cullmann/Wildlife Photographer of the Year“Calm Amid the Storm” is very much a photo of two halves, showing a threatening storm approaching above the water and a school of bigeye trevally fish below the waves. The image was taken by Canadian Shane Gross, just off D’Arros Island in the Seychelles. Credit: Shane Gross/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Jason Gulley is a geology professor and freelance photographer from the U.S., and his shot of a mother and a calf manatee navigating murky waters is entitled “Between Layers.” Every winter, thousands of manatees head to sources of warmer water to ensure their survival. Credit: Jason Gulley/Wildlife Photographer of the YearA flock of red-billed quelea birds star in “Flock of Gold” by Hungarian Bence Máté, who says, “You could feel the rush of air from tens of thousands of wings beating in unison, even from [98 feet] away.” Credit: Bence Máté/Wildlife Photographer of the Year“Herd Huddle” by David Lloyd, a wildlife photographer from New Zealand, shows a group of Asian elephants forming a protective circle around two calves. It was taken from a distance, just before the herd turned around and disappeared into the forest. Credit: David Lloyd/Wildlife Photographer of the YearThere was also recognition for younger photographers. Amelie Davis from the U.K. took the top award in the 10 years and under category for “Flight of the Bumblebee,” which was captured in southern England on an iPhone Davis borrowed from her dad. Credit: Amelie Davis/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The award for the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year went to Oscar Whitfield from Zimbabwe, who captured this dung beetle pushing a pellet of poop along the ground. Taken in Zambezi National Park, the photograph is called “Labor of Love.” Credit: Oscar Whitfield/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
David Nield has written about science and technology for more than 20 years. His work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Wired, Popular Science, The Guardian, and Gizmodo.
