Looking for some eye candy? Look no further than these award-winning photos submitted to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by London’s Natural History Museum, which will host an exhibition of photographs from Friday 11 October 2024 until 29 June 2025.
This dramatic macro photo of Dawson’s burrowing bee shows both male bees trying to mate with the female.
The Pallas cat is a wild cat native to colder regions of Asia, such as Inner Mongolia. Here, a cat can be seen just catching a small bird (crushed by its claws) with the setting moon behind it.
In this freeze frame, you might be fooled into thinking these lions are arguing. Maybe so, but they were also post-coital and had mated several times before this photo was taken. If you look closely, you can see the saliva tendrils and flying insects among the big cats.
This requiem shark was unfortunately caught by a fishing vessel in the South Atlantic. The shark contorted as it struggled with the hook. Approximately 80 million sharks are removed from the ocean every year. Today, approximately 75% of shark species are at risk of extinction.
Drone shots of Norway’s glaciers are majestic and huge. The image itself is made up of 26 individual frames, capturing the glacier of part of Austfonna, Europe’s third largest ice cap. Meltwater can be seen pouring from the top of the glacier, turning some of the ocean into a combination of light blue and white.
Mussels can be seen here gathering on the Portuguese coast, where they stick together to avoid being washed out to sea. At first glance, these invertebrates could be mistaken for penguins and crows seen from a distance.
Ah, to be a crab-eater seal and take a nap in the sea ice. That’s what happened to two pinnipeds seen here, floating in the frigid waters of the Weddell Sea. It looks pretty peaceful – dare I say, better than desk work?
Lights illuminate the silhouettes of two peacocks among the trees of Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan. Everyone has their own opinion, but this is my favorite highly praised lens choice.
In this photo, two tawny owls sit on a tree branch in a German park. One owl’s eyes are almost closed, while the other leans toward its companion, looking curiously at the photographer’s camera.
A jackdaw can be seen here holding a few stones in its mouth. No, it’s not for digestion. The bird was carrying a stone back to its nest; the photographer also saw the bird carrying deer hair back to its nest, according to a contest release.
A dead deer covered in frost can be seen on the forest floor near Susanville, California.
A David Bowie spider was found between two tree branches in Malaysia. The spider was named after the late British pop star by an arachnologist and Bowie enthusiast, and the markings on its head bear some resemblance to Bowie’s makeup habits.
In this dynamic photo, a stoat jumps on the snow. The photo was taken in France and the stoat’s motives are unclear. This behavior is called “dancing” by scientists, but it could be caused by anything from a parasitic infection to confusing prey.
