Spending time with animals is proven to boost your mood, but even just looking at animal photos online beats aimless doomscrolling. And science backs it up.
A study found that just half an hour of watching photos and videos of animals lowered people’s anxiety, blood pressure, and heart rate.
Anxiety levels reduced by an average of 35%, with some experiencing a fall of almost 50%. Heart rates also dropped by an average of 6.5% in just 30 minutes.
During this research, people were shown images of ducks, kittens, cats, puppies, dogs, alpacas, tiger cubs, lion cubs, baby gorillas, monkeys and quokkas.
It was found that consuming content of quokkas — mini marsupials found in Western Australia — had an immediate positive impact on participants.
Animal photos don’t just grab your attention; they can actually make you care more about protecting wildlife.
A study published last month found that some features in wildlife images — like visible faces or cues that make you feel like you can understand what the animal is thinking or feeling — can create emotional connections.
These features can even drive people to engage online or give money to conservation.
“If you want to encourage people to protect an animal, you might depict it in a way that evokes a social or emotional connection. For instance, emphasizing facelike features or attention to the viewer,” said study coauthor Brian Knutson, a professor of psychology at the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences.
He added: “Social media is a powerful tool for shaping public opinion and encouraging environmental behavior. Neuroscience tools could offer insights into what motivates people to support wildlife conservation efforts.”
Photography competitions like Wildlife Photographer of the Year or Nature’s Best Photography show that a single powerful image can raise awareness and even help protect endangered species.
The organizations that hold these contests fund vital conservation projects around the world.
Many winning entries also tell real stories about threats facing species and ecosystems.
The contests encourage photographers to become advocates for wildlife protection. They are usually required to submit detailed background information such as conservation status and habitat challenges.
The photograph ‘Ghost Town Visitor’ earned the prestigious title of 61st Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2025, awarded by London’s Natural History Museum.
Photographer Wim van den Heever captured a ghostly brown hyena in the ruins of an abandoned building.
The photo is “an eerie juxtaposition of the wild reclaiming human civilization. This picture is a multi-layered story of loss, resilience and the natural world’s silent triumph, making it an unforgettable piece of wildlife and conservation photography,” said competition judge Akanksha Sood Singh.
Some of the winning images have also led to policy changes.
For example, photographers Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen captured videos and images of a starving polar bear that quickly went viral and started a global conversation about climate change. The images even led to increased funding for Arctic wildlife protection initiatives.
“We hope that our images of this… bear moved the conversation about climate change to the forefront, where it must remain until we solve this planetary problem,” says Mittermeier.
In Indonesia, a prize-winning photo showing rainforest destruction helped create a new protected area for orangutans.
Wildlife photos often go on global tours through competitions, showing up in exhibitions all over the world.
They help people understand the real issues animals face, from climate change to disappearing habitats, and get more people caring about protecting them.
