A Sneak Peek At Amazing Animal Photos From Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2023

Aug 12, 2023

The catwalk, Highly commended, 1Young Photographers 11-14 Years old category. Maasai Mara National ... [+] Reserve, Narok, Kenya

It’s that time again to get behind the lens of some of the world's best wildlife photographers with a first selection of images entered in the 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

This year’s contest, organized by London’s Natural History Museum, attracted an astounding 49,957 entries from photographers of all ages and experience levels from 95 countries. Entries were judged anonymously on their creativity, originality and technical excellence by an international panel of industry experts.

Among the newly-released Highly Commended images is an unusual interaction of a macaque jumping on a deer, the drama of a snow leopard hunting a Pallas’s cat, the hopeful moment a team opens a crate to check on a tiger cub evacuated from Ukraine and the heart-wrenching story of an elephant struck by a train in Gabon.

“What most impressed the jury was the range of subjects, from absolute beauty, rarely seen behaviors and species to images that are stark reminders of what we are doing to the natural world,” said Kathy Moran, chair of the judging panel.

‘We are facing urgent biodiversity and climate crises, and photography is a powerful catalyst for change,” explained Dr. Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum.

The winners of each category and the Grand Title and Young Grand Title Awards will be announced on October 10 at an awards ceremony and the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition showcasing 100 extraordinary photographs will open on October 13 at the museum in London and close Sunday June 30, 2024.

After the launch of the flagship exhibition, it will embark on a UK and international tour connecting millions of people with the world’s best wildlife photography and the call to act for the planet.

Snow bison, Highly Commended, Animal Portraits

A plains bison kicks up flurries of snow over its bulky frame.

From his vehicle, Waugh saw the bison start to head downhill toward the road, gathering momentum, and he drew up to give them space to cross.

Once abundant and wide-ranging across most of North America, bison were hunted to near extinction by the late 1800s. Numbers are slowly increasing, but they’re confined to discrete populations, dependent on conservation management and constrained by land-use changes and land ownership. This was shot at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

Death in waiting, Highly Commended, Animal Portraits

A Mediterranean stargazer peers through the sandy floor in coastal waters.

Formis approached the stargazer with care in order not to disturb it. Combining the concentrated light from the flash with a slow shutter speed and deliberate movement from his camera, Formis presents the stargazer lit through a curtain of turquoise water.

The stargazer is an ambush predator. It buries itself in the sand by wriggling its body until it’s invisible but for its eyes and teeth, then lies in wait for small fish and invertebrates. Its coastal habitat is under pressure from erosion and pollution, and it is often caught as bycatch. The shot was made at Rijeka, Croatia.

Race for life, Highly Commended, Behaviour: Mammals

The drama of a snow leopard hunting a Pallas’s cat: When the snow leopard sprang into action, Zhou assumed it was after a marmot as ‘the Pallas’s cat blended in so well with the rocks.’

But in less than a minute, it was in the snow leopard’s jaws. Both species are well camouflaged and are hard to see at any time, let alone together. While large birds of prey and wolves are known to hunt Pallas’s cats, it’s a rare sight to see them hunted by snow leopards. This was shot at Gayi, Sichuan, China.

Mason bee at work, Highly commended, Behaviour: Invertebrates.

A two-colored mason-bee is building its nest and Zanki knew the bee was memorizing landmarks around the nest so it could find it again. So as not to disorientate it, he edged his equipment closer each time it left. After two hours, the bee was using his equipment as a landmark.

Two-coloured mason bees use snail shells for egg laying. They pack the shell with pollen and nectar for their larvae, then seal it with grass and sticky saliva. Humans sometimes consider snails to be pests, but this species could not survive without them. Location: Near Witzenhausen, Hesse, Germany

Firebirds, Highly Commended, Behaviour: Birds category

A pair of white storks flanked by shimmering heat against the burnt ground caused by a controlled fire.

As Friedlaender had anticipated, shortly after the controlled fire was lit on an area of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, hundreds of birds arrived, particularly storks and kites. Most kept a reasonable distance, but the storks pressed up to the front line in search of easy prey.

Starting fires is a common though controversial way of managing grasslands to stimulate lush new growth and to control the spread of bushland. This can be a dangerous tactic especially in times of drought when fire spreads easily.

Coot on ice, Highly Commended,,Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, , 10 Years and Under

A coot struggles to stay upright on ice while subduing a wriggling loach.

Young photographer Zeyu waited in the cold, watching coots as they moved across a frozen pond in Dalian, northeast China. This coot had been scrambling in the water for food and eventually caught a loach.

Common coots are among the most widespread birds, with a range that extends across Europe and Asia and into North Africa and Australia. They require large areas of open water with nearby cover for nesting, and populations can be affected when their habitat is disturbed by humans.

Forest rodeo, Highly Commended, Behaviour: Mammals

An unusual interaction: Using a tree as a springboard, the young Yakushima macaque jumped onto the deer’s back.

Rodeo-riding of deer by the monkeys of Yakushima Island is rare, but not unheard of. Young male macaques have been seen clinging to female deer and trying to mate with them. In this case, however, the macaque was a young female, appearing just to be enjoying a free ride.

Possum’s midnight snack, Highly Commended, Urban Wildlife

The photographer finds an unexpected guest on her balcony as a possum snacks on a large cicada.

“There were heads here, wings there,” Henderson says. She had peeked out and spotted a common brushtail possum sitting on the windowsill as it hungrily dismembered a large northern greengrocer cicada while carrying a baby in its pouch.

This nocturnal marsupial, native to Australia, is widespread and locally abundant. Its long, sharp claws are made for a life in the trees, but it has readily adapted to urban environments and come into conflicts with humans. Location: Malanda, Queensland, Australia

The vanishing seal, Highly Commended, Natural Artistry

A mosaic-like image of a Mediterranean monk seal: Working under permit, D’Amicis lay hidden on a ledge for several hours before a Mediterranean monk seal glided through the shallows and disappeared into a cave below.

The reflections on the water helped hide this elusive seal and allude to the risk of the species totally disappearing. This species is now one of the most endangered mammals on Earth due to historic hunting and human encroachment on its habitat. Mediterranean monk seals once rested on open beaches, but most now seek the safety of caves. Location: Greece

The face of the persecuted, Highly Commended, Photojournalism.

The injuries sustained by this fox were most likely caused by dogs.

Aldridge framed this fox’s permanently-exposed teeth and eye as it peered out from its makeshift den in a rehabilitation centers. This image is part of a nine-year project photographing the complex relationship the British have with the red fox. Since 2005 in England and Wales it has been illegal to poison foxes, block or destroy foxholes, or use dogs to hunt them.

The injuries suffered by this animal were likely inflicted by dogs illegally sent into the fox’s den to flush it out. Location: Kent, England.

Fight to the death, Highly Commended, Photojournalism

These were the final moments of extreme distress felt by an elephant hit by a train. The collision shattered the elephant’s hip beyond repair, and it had to be killed.

After being shot the male elephant shows its frustration as it angrily sprays water at the crowd of bystanders after one of them had tried to cut off the elephants trunk.

Doest, who was in the park on a different assignment, witnessed the episode. Despite the park director’s efforts to get the train company to slow trains, there are regular wildlife–train collisions in Lopé National Park, including up to 20 incidents with elephants a year.

Trains transport manganese from the Moanda mine, which holds 25% of known reserves. Manganese is a metal used in iron and steel production. Location: Lopé National Park, Gabon.

Prize catch, Highly Commended, Oceans: The Bigger Picture

An artisan fisher drags a sailfish across the beach: Pattyn had spent days watching fishers bring their catch to shore surrounded by birds trying to get their share.

The fish were prepared at sea then loaded onto trucks early in the morning when this photograph was taken. Artisan fishing provides vital employment opportunities for people living around Ecuador’s Eastern Pacific waters.

This is small in scale compared to the industrial-scale fishing undertaken by international fleets. However, artisan fishing does still have an impact as marine mammals can be entangled in nets. Location: Puerto López, Manabí Province, Ecuador.

War cub, Highly Commended, Photojournalism.

A team from Poznań Zoo opens a crate to check on an evacuated tiger cub.

Michał Siarek documents the efforts to evacuate animals including wild animals in private ownership such as tigers from across war-torn Ukraine. “That night changed me,” he says. ”Hearing the cry of a lion still in the truck made me decide to help with the next evacuation run”

The first transport from Popova was probably the most dramatic. As Russian forces were nearing Kiev, that first transport of big cats was improvised with makeshift crates. Once sealed, the driver couldn't open them.

Many of the animals were rescued from fighting hotspots in eastern Ukraine in 2022. At the Polish border, the animals were re-crated and rushed to Poznań Zoo, then on to sanctuaries in Europe. More than 200 animals have since been saved. Location: Poznań Zoo, Poznań, Poland.

Coral connections, Highly Commended, Underwater.

At a healthy coral reef, ghost gobies swim within the branches of a sea fan.

Mustard is particularly fond of gobies, which are normally skittish. But he was determined to picture more than one in the frame. Unexpected was the copepod parasite on one fish.

Capturing the vibrant, contrasting colors meant holding steady in the current to get a long enough exposure. Ghost gobies use gorgonian sea fans as a refuge or feeding platform and blend perfectly into their surroundings. Coral reefs support a diversity of interconnected species but are at risk due to the warming seas of climate change. Location: Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Mushroom magic, Highly Commended, Plants and Fungi category.

Swirls of spores seem to dance beneath the gills of a deer shield mushroom. Intent on revealing the magic of spore dispersal, Papatsanis set up umbrellas to minimize air flow, positioned a light and a reflector, and angled his camera to highlight this often-unseen action as waves of ethereal dust.

Billions of these tiny egg-shaped spores are dispersed by air currents. This wood-rotting fungus most often emerges on the stumps and fallen branches of broad-leaved trees. Location: Mount Olympus, Pieria, Greece.