The winners of the 57th edition of the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have been revealed. The panel looked at almost 50,000 photographs, but only 100 were chosen as finalists. Bored Panda has already published the fantastic winner images, which you can see here.
Credit: Bored Panda
#1 Shelter From The Rain By Ashleigh Mccord
“Ashleigh photographed this beautiful moment between two male lions on a visit to Kenya’s Maasai Mara. The rain was only a gentle mist at first, and she was only photographing one of the lions. However, the second had arrived and greeted his buddy before choosing to go away. However, as the rain became a torrential downpour, the second male returned and sat, his body positioned to protect the other. They rubbed their faces and sat nuzzling for some time after that. Ashleigh kept an eye on them until the rain was so heavy that they couldn’t be seen.”
#2 An Arctic Fox’s Breath Submitted by Marco Gaiotti
“Marco was keeping an eye on this small Arctic fox as it cried out to another nearby. After each call, he gradually noticed the fox’s wet breath swiftly freezing in the air. The temperature in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, was -35°C (-31°F) in late winter. Photographing arctic foxes may be difficult since they usually race around looking for food. Still, this one was relaxed and allowed Marco to get near enough to focus on it, with the light shining beautifully in the backdrop.”
#3 Dancing In The Snow By Qiang Guo
Qiang watched as two male golden pheasants swapped places on this trunk at the Lishan Nature Reserve in Shanxi Province, China – their movements comparable to a silent dance in the snow. The birds are native to China’s mountainous areas, where they live in deep forests. They are shy and difficult to see, spending most of their time hunting for food on the dark forest floor and only flying at night to dodge predators or sleep in very high trees.
#4 Bonds Of Love By Peter Delaney
“A herd of elephants formed ranks around Peter, forcing their young into the centre of the herd for protection. An elephant bull was attempting to separate a newborn calf from its mother. When the baby elephant let out a screech, Peter was photographing the herd in South Africa’s Addo Elephant Reserve. The herd reacted quickly, blowing loud calls, flapping their ears, and surrounding the babies, reaching their trunks for comfort. Elephants form lifelong attachments and can express emotions ranging from love to hatred. ‘Something is amazing and lovely about seeing elephants — it hits your spirit and tugs at your heartstrings,’ Peter says.”
#5 Jo-Anne Mcarthur’s Hope In A Burned Plantation
“In early 2020, Jo-Anne travelled to Australia to chronicle the stories of animals who had been touched by the horrific bushfires that had swept through New South Wales and Victoria. She was allowed access to fire sites, rescues, and veterinary missions while working closely with Animals Australia (an animal protection organization). The lucky ones included this eastern grey kangaroo and her joey, photographed near Mallacoota, Victoria. The kangaroo didn’t take her gaze away from Jo-Anne as she strolled quietly to a good shooting location. Before the kangaroo hopped away into the charred eucalyptus grove, she had just enough time to squat down and push the shutter trigger.”
#6 Lynx Cub Licking By Antonio Liebana Navarro
“Due to habitat degradation, declining food supplies, traffic collisions, and illegal hunting, the Iberian lynx, is one of the world’s most endangered cats. The species is recovering because of conservation initiatives and may now be found in tiny parts of Portugal and Spain. Antonio took this photo at Pealajo, Castilla La Mancha, Spain, while heading a photography conservation project. He knew a lynx family frequented this waterhole, so he set up a hide nearby. He was fortunate enough to catch the cub lifting its head from the water, licking its lips, and staring directly into the camera while focusing on it.”
#7 Jeroen Hoekendijk’s The Eagle And The Bear
“Black bear cubs are known for climbing trees to wait for their mother to return with food. This young cub opted to take an afternoon snooze on a moss-covered branch in the temperate rainforest of Anan, Alaska, under the careful eye of a juvenile bald eagle. Jeroen thought the situation was exceptional because the eagle had been perched in this pine tree for hours. He instantly went out to photograph the picture from eye level. While the bear was sound asleep, he managed to position himself further up the slope with a little effort and a lot-of-luck.”
#8 Monkey Cuddle By Zhang Qiang
“Zhang was in China’s Qinling Mountains to study the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey’s behaviour. The endangered monkeys’ only habitat is the temperate woods of the Alps, threatened by forest disturbance. Zhang is fascinated by the family group’s dynamics, particularly how close and kind they are to one another. Females and young cuddle close for warmth and protection when it’s time to slumber. This photograph precisely portrays that intimate moment. The newborn monkey’s distinct blue face was nestled between two females, whose beautiful golden-orange fur was dappled in light.”
#9 Peek-A-Boo Taken By Michiel Van Noppen
“Michiel took this photo of Dantita, as she is affectionately known, in San José in central Costa Rica, in the foothills of Braulio Carrillo National Park. Known as “gardeners of the forest,” Baird’s tapirs are essential to their natural habitat. It takes the tapir to germinate certain seeds. However, due to deforestation and hunting, just 6,000 individuals are thought to remain in the wild. Proyecto Tapir Nicaragua and Nai Conservation are two conservation organizations that have been established to work closely with local communities to emphasize the importance of preserving the land and saving an endangered animal.”
#10 Thomas Peschak’s Meercats Put On A Show
For more than a decade, humans have been interacting with this meerkat colony in South Africa’s Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, where they have become accustomed to humans. They were so engaged with lazing, hunting, grooming, and fighting that they generally ignored Thomas’s presence. As a result, he could get near to them and utilize a wide-angle lens to capture the parched savannah and mountains where they live. To shoot the meercats’ features, he used procedures similar to those used for people in a picture session and studio lights.”
#11 Jaguar Of Ashes By Ernane Junior
“It was “a year never to be forgotten” in the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil, according to Ernane. The number of fires in the area more than doubled in 2020. More than two-thirds of the region was destroyed. Encontros das Guas State Park had a much worse scenario, with over 80% of the park being destroyed by fire. Ernane was documenting the fires in the park when this jaguar and his brother crossed the Rio Três Irmos (Three Brothers River) nearby. The jaguar rolled through the ash left by the desolation of days before, leaving only his face exposed, his now black body mimicking his burnt surroundings after reaching the opposite bank.”
#12 Stay Close By Maxime Aliaga
“It takes a lot of energy to care for a young orangutan. Maxime spent over an hour at the Pinus Jantho Nature Reserve in Sumatra, Indonesia, watching this mother fight to keep her agitated young in the nest. The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program has reintroduced around 120 captured orangutans into the reserve since 2011. As a safety net against decline, they want to generate new wild populations. Marconi, this mother, was originally held as an illegal pet and nursed back to health before being released in 2011. She was spotted in 2017 with a wild-born kid named Masen, who has become a symbol of hope for the future population.”
#13 Barracudas By Yung Sen Wu
“While diving in the turquoise seascape of Blue Corner, Palau, Yung was drawn to the schooling barracudas in the western Pacific. He’d been swimming with them for four days. Still, their configuration was continually shifting, and he couldn’t locate the ideal angle. His luck changed on the fifth day when the fish seemed to accept him into the group. He began to visualize how one fish sees another while swimming while surrounded by barracudas, and this was the image he desired. Due of the fish’s speed, he had to work hard to maintain his position. He finally obtained his perfect ‘fish eye’ perspective after a gruelling 50 minutes.”
#14 The Ice Bear Cometh… By Andy Skillen
“This place on the Fishing Branch River in Yukon, Canada, is a two-hour helicopter journey from the nearest town — a location where the river never freezes, no matter how cold it gets. The salmon run occurs in late fall here. Grizzly bears in the region can use this open water as one last meal before hibernation. Since the temperature was hovering around -22°F, Andy had been hoping that one particular female bear would utilize this log to cross the stream. She eventually did, and he got the image he wanted: her wet fishing fur had frozen into icicles, and ‘you could hear them tinkling as she walked past.'”
#15 Lucas Bustamante’s Life in Black and White
“Hundreds of plains zebra had gathered to drink at Okaukuejo waterhole in Etosha National Park, Namibia — a famous spot for the area’s animals to quench their thirst due to the scorching heat. The zebras, packed closely together and moving as one, dropped their heads to get water and then robotically raised them to scout for danger. This carried on for five minutes, and Lucas thought their stripes looked like a live barcode. His goal was to get only one with its head up, and he captured the photograph he thinks best shows these famous black-and-white striped animals shortly before the herd left.”
#16 Lake Of Ice By Cristiano Vendramin
“The Santa Croce Lake is a natural lake in the Belluno province of Italy. Cristiano noted that the water level was exceptionally high in the winter of 2019. The willow plants were partially buried, generating a dance of light and reflections. He shot the sight in icy calm while waiting for colder weather. This place brought up memories of a beloved friend who had adored it before the photo was taken, but was no longer alive to enjoy it.” “I’d like to believe he gave me this unforgettable sensation. As a result, he is the subject of this shot.”
#17 Taken as a Whole Ly Dang is the author.
“In San Diego, California, Ly noticed that the Clark’s grebes on his neighborhood lake hadn’t nested in a few years, and he couldn’t figure out why. A year later, in 2017, California experienced twice as much rain as usual. Upon the completion of the lakes, the grebes proceeded to build nests and lay eggs in those nests. It’s common for them to make floating nests in the reeds or rushes near the water’s edge. Chicks ride on their parents’ backs as soon as they hatch. The grebes’ nests had pretty about all been blown away by a storm when this picture was taken. Ly had spent hours searching the surface of the water for grebes when he came upon the survivors, just as the sun was going down, in the middle of the night.”
#18 Hitching-A-Ride By Wim Van Den Heever
“In the Pantanal, Brazil, a female giant anteater was feeding over a large open plain late one afternoon when Wim observed she had a kid on her back. He instantly grabbed his camera and crept up to a distant termite mound heading in the same direction she was. He sat calmly and waited for her to come over. Wim was rewarded for his patience after waiting a long time — anteaters move slowly – and holding some pretty hefty camera equipment.”
#19 Blackbird Backyard By Jan Leßmann
“In his hometown of Greifswald, Germany, Jan delight in observing this blackbird from his front door. It was spring, and the blackbird had decided to construct her nest in an old garden house. She reared her children in this beautiful idyll quietly and secretly. Jan wanted to show that we don’t always have to travel far to enjoy nature’s beauty”
#20 The Future In-Her-Hands By Joan De La Malla
“The rainforests of Borneo are rapidly vanishing due to overexploitation — industrial logging and land removal for plantation expansion. As a result, indigenous species such as the orangutan are suffering and dying due to habitat loss and are in grave danger. The admirable work of International Animal Rescue is to rehabilitate orphaned or injured orangutans. They provide them with the medical attention they require and, if feasible, prepare them for reintegration. A keeper looks after the babies in this forest enclosure. They are encouraged to interact with others their age, build nests, and seek food.”
#21 The Jump By Karl Samitsch
“Karl was in Scotland’s Cairngorms with a buddy who took him to a forest where red squirrels were regularly fed. They hung hazelnuts from two trees’ opposing branches. Karl set up his camera on a tripod between the branches, facing the direction a squirrel would jump. He waited behind a tree in camouflage gear, holding a remote control, with his camera set to automatic focus. Two squirrels appeared after less than an hour. He used the high-speed burst setting on his camera as they leapt through the trees, and out of 150 shots, only four were sharp, and this one precisely captured the moment.”
#22 Building An Egg Case By Javier Aznar González De Rueda
“Javier observed this little female thorned heart orb weaver spider painstakingly creating her egg case while out on a night stroll in the Amazon rainforest near Tena, Ecuador. These female spiders spend hours encasing their eggs in a silken cocoon, which can hold hundreds of eggs while suspended from a strong silk thread. The egg casing resembled a pearly white full moon on this night.”
#23 Dolphin Hug By Jaime Rojo
“Jaime stood there and watched Federico Mosquera, a scientist from Colombia’s Omacha Foundation, calmed an Amazon river dolphin. These dolphins are tactile animals, and direct contact calms them down; keeping them hydrated when they’re not in the water is also crucial. Omacha and WWF were transporting the dolphin to a temporary veterinarian facility in Puerto Nario, Colombia, where a GPS tag was installed on its dorsal fin. The research is part of a bigger-effort to better understand the health and migration patterns of river dolphins and their habitat. The intention was to tag five dolphins, but because of the high water, the dolphins had a larger range of movement than usual, and the crew struggled, only tagging one during the voyage.”
#24 Living Together By Dhritiman Mukherjee
“Bhutan is a fantastic place for Dhritiman. He admires how most people try to live in harmony with nature. Satyr tragopans are a rare Asian pheasant regularly hunted for food and plumage. They are generally cautious and skittish. On the other hand, the birds appear at peace and fully relaxed in the presence of the people who reside in this village near Punakha. Dhritiman had been attempting to photograph the satyr tragopan in India since 2008, but the birds would always flee the moment they noticed him. He decided he wanted to see for himself after hearing of people in Bhutan surviving peacefully with the species.”
#25 Working Together By Minghui Yuan
“Green tree ants were seen on the trunks of numerous large trees near Minghui’s hotel in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in Yunnan Province, China, and he was fascinated by their behavior. This ant builds its nest in the tree crown and is known for being fierce and adept at collecting various insects. Minghui witnessed a swarm of ants working in perfect unison to detain a green katydid one morning. These extraordinary ants have been recorded ‘farming’ some insects, including leafhoppers, rather than killing them. The ants guard the leafhoppers against predators and parasites so that they can feast on the delicious sap excreted by the leafhoppers.”
