So, without further ado, we invite you to admire beautiful, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking shortlisted pictures that reflect our natural wildlife today.
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“A polar bear carves out a bed from a small iceberg before drifting off to sleep in the far north, in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Having spent three days searching for polar bears through thick fog, the expedition vessel Nima was on changed course. It turned and headed to where there was still some sea ice. Here Nima encountered a younger and an older male polar bear. Just before midnight, the young male clambered onto a small iceberg and, using its strong paws, clawed away to carve out a bed before drifting off to sleep.”
“A barn swallow flies over a meadow of cornflowers, catching insects during springtime in eastern Germany.As their name suggests, barn swallows prefer to nest inside buildings, and usually return to the same spot each year, repairing nesting cups sculpted from mud and clay. Positioning their camera among the cornflowers, Hermann and Jan watched as the swallows continuously flew low over the meadow, catching insects on the wing. Using a remote control, they took this beautiful picture as one of the swallows flew over the camera.”
“A Balkan pond turtle shares a moment of peaceful coexistence with a northern banded groundling dragonfly in Israel’s Jezreel Valley.Tzahi was positioned in his hide photographing shore birds when he spotted a Balkan pond turtle walking in the shallow water. At first, he wasn’t interested in it and carried on watching the birds. It wasn’t until a northern banded groundling dragonfly flew past his lens in the direction of the turtle that his focus changed. The dragonfly unexpectedly landed on the turtle’s nose, but instead of snapping up the insect, the turtle appeared to be experiencing pleasure from the interaction as they shared a moment in the midst of the swamp’s murky waters.”
“It was a late spring morning and Deena was snowshoeing deep in the forests of the Rocky Mountain National Park, USA, when she noticed this snowshoe hare sleeping on a small snow mound.Trying to be as quiet as possible, she positioned herself in front of it. Hours later the hare woke and hopped off the snow mound in Deena’s direction. Using a high frame rate, she captured the exact moment in its hop where the hare pulled its large back feet up next to its head. Its large feet prevent the hare from sinking into the deep, soft snow, acting like snowshoes hence its name the snowshoe hare.”
“Early in the morning, Mark watched as these lionesses groomed one of the pride’s five cubs in Kenya’s Maasai Mara.They had set off to hunt the evening before, leaving the cubs hidden overnight in dense bushes. Returning from their unsuccessful mission, they’d called the cubs out onto the open grassland. Females raise each other’s cubs as their own, sharing parenting duties. Here the youngster was clearly enjoying the moment of affection and attention.”
“John was leading a grizzly bear photography tour on the Chilko River when the group came across this bear salmon fishing.Allowing the current to take their small boat slowly past the bear, they watched it rise up on its hind legs as if to get a better perspective on the salmon in the shallow water. As the bear was standing there, it momentarily glanced in the boat’s direction with a quizzical expression before returning to its salmon-fishing endeavors.”
“To Uge, this small corner of the river, among the bulrushes and quaking aspens, seemed as if it had been painted.The light and the composition of the plants between the trunks, together with the shapes and colors of the autumn leaves, created texture and balance. He took more than a hundred images while on the banks of the River Cabriel in the Sierra de Albarracin Mountains, Spain, waiting patiently for a cloud to pass overhead so a soft light would wash over everything.”
“For 15 years Andy’s been photographing the hares of Scotland’s Monadhliath Mountains, but in all that time he’s never witnessed a moment like this.He was expecting the female to repel the male’s advances with the usual explosive boxing behavior, so included lots of space around them. Unexpectedly, the two courting hares came together and touched noses. Acting quickly, Andy caught their special moment on camera. For him, this was yet more evidence of the highly complex social relationships that animals have with one another.”
“A humpback whale calf misses some of its mother’s milk, which drifts and swirls in the currents off the coast of Rurutu, French Polynesia.In the seven years and hundreds of hours Karim’s been documenting humpback whales, he’s only seen whale milk floating in the water twice. Both times were on a diving trip off the coast of Rurutu, with the same whale and her calf. Humpback whales don’t have lips, so the calves can be clumsy and on very rare occasions miss some of the milk. Just as Karim was preparing to go back up to the surface, he saw the calf rising in the background and captured these strands of milk drifting and swirling in the current.”
“Standing on a rock in the Judean Foothills of Israel, a red fox cub locks eyes with the shrew it had thrown up in the air moments earlier.After an hour of driving, Ayala arrived at the red fox den and, parking a safe distance away waited. It wasn’t long before four cubs appeared and started to play. This cub lost interest in its siblings and started sniffing around. Moments later, it pulled a shrew out of the sand and started knocking it around like a ball. Then, standing on a rock, the cub threw the shrew in the air. As it landed, Ayala caught the moment the hapless shrew and the fox locked eyes.”
“An Adélie penguin approaches an emperor penguin and its chick during feeding time in Antarctica’s Atka Bay.Stefan watched intently to see how the interactions between these three penguins would play out. Adélie penguins only appear in Antarctica’s Atka Bay for a short period during the southern hemisphere summer. They’re opportunists and can be a nuisance for emperor penguins and their chicks. If the chance arises, Adélie penguins will try to cause the adult or the chick to drop its food while the chick is being fed, snatching any that falls to the ground.”
“Over a two-month period Matt watched a young male red fox learn the best time to climb into this street bin in London.It figured out it was Monday evenings, shortly before the weekly collection, when the rubbish was piled high and any discarded food that rested on top was easy to get at. Contrary to what most people think, an urban fox’s diet is made up of more than 50% natural food, such as earthworms, wild birds, seeds and fruits. As a result, these animals play an important role in the urban ecosystem.”
“A Celebes crested macaque investigates the contents of a plastic bottle from a pile ready for recycling on a beach at the edge of Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve, Indonesia.Most of them had washed up from the sea, and despite the sizeable pile, more would soon be added. The Celebes crested macaques have learnt that these bottles contain liquid and are often seen chewing off the caps to reach the contents. They’ve also worked out that the coloured bottles are more likely to contain sweet liquid and so pick these. Some even carried bottles away into the forest, frustrating the rangers’ efforts.”
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“Near Montpellier, France, a cuckoo wasp is captured mid-air trying to enter a mason bee’s clay burrow as a smaller cuckoo wasp cleans its wings below.Frank set up near the mason bee’s burrow hoping to photograph the rare cuckoo wasp that parasitises these bees. He was in luck, when not one but two cuckoo wasps appeared. While Frank was taking some shots, the larger cuckoo wasp flew off, returning seconds later with a drop of water at its mouth. The wasp uses water and saliva to soften the clay so it can dig into the bee’s sealed-up burrow. Once inside it lays its own egg, then closes the burrow up again. When the cuckoo wasp’s egg hatches, it feeds on mason bee larvae inside the burrow.”
“A wood duck and its brood are caught in a late spring snowstorm in Smiggin Holes, New South Wales, Australia.It would normally be warm and sunny when these ducklings hatch from their nest high up in a tree hollow, but thanks to the La Niña effect things were a bit different this year. Warmer waters in the western Pacific meant more precipitation, resulting in more rain than normal in eastern Australia and cooler and wetter springs and summers. Despite the conditions, the ducklings chose to exit their nest, dropping down into a frozen world. Upon landing, they quickly became lost in a snowstorm as their mother tried to lead them to open water.”
“While photographing rescued chimpanzees at the Chimpanzee Conservation Center in the Republic of Guinea, Roberto captured this pensive portrait.Located in the National Park of Upper Niger, the center houses orphaned chimpanzees that have been rescued from being sold as pets after their mothers were killed for bushmeat. Once abundant in Guinea, the western chimpanzee population is declining, and the species is now classified as Critically Endangered. The center rehabilitates the chimpanzees with the aim of releasing them back into the national park. It also works with local communities to show them why it’s important to protect the rainforest and its inhabitants.”
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