The 60th Wildlife Photographer of the Year award at the Natural History Museum in London has selected outstanding photographs from a total of 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories.
An impressive photo by German photographer Ingo Arndt captures a moment where a red wood ant assists its companion in dissecting a green beetle. (Photo: Ingo Arndt)
Australian photographer Matthew Smith captured a leopard seal under the ice at Paradise Harbor in Antarctica. This was his first direct encounter with the species. “When it looked straight into the lens, I knew it would be a great photo,” Smith shared. (Photo: Matthew Smith)
Despite its beauty, the photo reveals the brutal sport of boxing orangutans. This cruel practice punishes the orangutans by withholding food to train them to fight each other. Photographer Aaron Gekoski from the UK shared that he took this photo after the match ended while waiting for the animal to recover. (Photo: Aaron Gekoski)
Indian photographer Dhanu Paran had only 20 minutes to fly a drone and photograph a family of elephants napping at noon before they woke up. He spotted them in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. (Photo: Dhanu Paran)
After carefully searching for a spot, German photographer Jan LeBmann stood on a bridge over a canal in northeastern Germany for a day waiting for the perfect shot. The result is a photo of a swallow bird diving close to the water’s surface, reflecting the Sun amidst water lily leaves. (Photo: Jan LeBmann)
Photographer Theo Bosboom from the Netherlands shared that he enjoys capturing less attractive or supposedly unimportant animal species. This is why he focused on sea slugs clinging to each other to avoid being swept out to sea, resulting in a striking image. (Photo: Theo Bosboom)
This photo captures the tense moment between a male and female lion in Serengeti National Park after the lioness suffered a broken leg during mating attempts. The drool from the mouths of both big cats and the flies around the male lion’s mane add to the drama of the shot, which British photographer William Fortescue did not notice until he enlarged the photo later. (Photo: William Fortescue)
The photo highlights the mating rituals of satin bowerbirds, where males build bowers to attract females. It is actually a double exposure image. One frame shows the male bird focused on building the bower, and the other shows the female visiting. Notably, the male uses plastic clothes pegs, straws, and cardboard box lids to decorate the bower, revealing how this species adapts to urban environments. The photo was taken by Australian photographer Keith Horton. (Photo: Keith Horton)
The photo by American photographer Sage Ono captures a lion’s mane sea slug with its mouth and hood expanded to catch prey. It lies on a seaweed leaf waiting for crustaceans or other invertebrates to swim by and get trapped in its hood. Then, it will close its mouth and swallow the prey. (Photo: Sage Ono)
This image of a lynx stretching in the evening sunlight was captured by Russian photographer Igor Metelskiy. He spent nearly six months photographing this elusive creature. (Photo: Igor Metelskiy)
The photo by Spanish photographer James Rojo captures a swarm of monarch butterflies gathered together in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. They cluster on a cedar tree for safety and warmth, while one confidently flaps its wings. (Photo: James Rojo)
Canadian photographer Shane Gross took the top-ranked photo in the competition after diving in a pond on Vancouver Island for several hours. The majestic migration of tiny tadpoles is a sight most people cannot imagine. (Photo: Shane Gross)
