Every year, we eagerly wait to see the fantastic photos that battle it out for fame, glory, and the chance to win their artists the honor of being called the Wildlife Photographer of the Year. This year’s winner is none other than Yongqing Bao, who won the award with his stunning photo called ‘The Moment,’ featuring a young fox and a marmot.
Scroll down, upvote your favorite photos, and share them with your friends. Let us know in the comments which pictures you like the best and why, as well as what you think of Bao's winning entry.
We love wildlife pictures, so be sure to check out Bored Panda’s recent article about (and interview with) photographer Gren Sowerby and his amazing shots of a lion yawning, smiling, and winking.
#1 "The Moment" By Yongqing Bao, China, Behaviour: Mammals, Grand Title Winner
This Himalayan marmot was not long out of hibernation when it was surprised by a mother Tibetan fox with three hungry cubs to feed. With lightning-fast reactions, Yongqing captured the attack – the power of the predator baring her teeth, the terror of her prey, the intensity of life and death written on their faces.
As one of the highest-altitude-dwelling mammals, the Himalayan marmot relies on its thick fur for survival through the extreme cold. In the heart of winter it spends more than six months in an exceptionally deep burrow with the rest of its colony. Marmots usually do not resurface until spring, an opportunity not to be missed by hungry predators.
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286points
#2 "Bee Line" By Frank Deschandol, France, Behaviour: Invertebrates, Highly Commended 2019
Bees buzzed in the long grass around the lake as evening fell. To Frank’s delight, they were settling down in little rows along the stems. These were solitary bees, probably males, gathering for the night in suitable resting places, while the females occupied nests they had built nearby.
Being cold-blooded, bees gain energy from the sun’s heat and rest at night and during cool weather. Holding tight to the stems with their strong, jaw-like mandibles, they gradually relax – their bodies lower, their wings rest and their antennae droop – until they fall asleep, waiting for the morning to come.
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272points
#3 "Land Of The Eagle" By Audun Rikardsen, Norway, Behaviour: Birds, Winner 2019
Audun carefully positioned this tree branch, hoping it would make a perfect lookout for a golden eagle. He set up a camera trap and occasionally left road-kill carrion nearby. Very gradually, over the next three years, this eagle started to use the branch to survey its coastal realm. Audun captured its power as it came in to land, talons outstretched.
Golden eagles typically fly at around 50 kilometres per hour but can reach speeds of up to 320 kilometres per hour when diving for prey. This, along with their sharp talons, makes them formidable hunters. Normally they kill small mammals, birds, reptiles or fish, but they also eat carrion and have been known to target larger animals too.
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269points
Chinese photographer Bao who won the award given out by London’s Natural History Museum captured the impressive moment when a fox attacked a marmot in the wild. In the photo, the marmot looks completely terrified of its attacker. The fear looks absolutely genuine and I think that most of us can sympathize with the poor animal whose life is in danger.
#4 "Lucky Break" By Jason Bantle, Canada, Urban Wildlife, Highly Commended 2019
A raccoon poked her head out of an abandoned car and paused to assess her surroundings, allowing Jason just enough time to use a long exposure in the twilight. The back seat was an ideal den for the raccoon and her five cubs as the only entrance – through a blunt-edged hole in the glass – was large enough for her but too small for predators such as coyotes.
Raccoons tend to make their dens in hollow trees or rock crevices but they are extremely adaptable. Emerging at dusk, this mother will spend the night foraging for food for herself and her young. Raccoons are opportunistic and will eat anything from fruit and nuts to the contents of rubbish bins.
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265points
#5 "Portrait Of A Mother" By Ingo Arndt, Germany, Animal Portraits, Highly Commended 2019
When you are eye to eye with a wild puma,’ says Ingo, ‘excitement is guaranteed.’ Tracking these elusive cats on foot meant lugging heavy gear long distances, often in freezing temperatures and unrelenting winds. Mutual respect gradually earned him the trust of a female and her cubs, allowing him to capture this intimate family portrait.
Pumas remain playful throughout their lives. Play-fighting teaches cubs vital survival skills including how to hunt, fight and escape. The cubs will stay with their mother for up to two years before gaining independence. They will live a solitary existence as adults until it is their turn to breed.
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246points
#6 "Cool Drink" By Diana Rebman, USA, Behaviour: Birds, Highly Commended 2019
Despite the bitterly cold temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius, Diana spent hours mesmerised by what she described as the ‘well-choreographed dance’ of a group of long-tailed tits taking turns to peck at an icicle. With the fast movement of the birds and her fingers feeling like blocks of ice, capturing their behaviour was no easy task.
Long-tailed tits live across Europe and Asia. Those living in Hokkaido, Japan, are referred to locally as Shima-Enaga. Winters there are cold and snowy and the birds must nibble on snow and ice for water. They spend their days foraging for insects and spiders and their nights huddled together in small groups for warmth.
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244points
‘The Moment’ was taken 14,800 feet (that’s 4.5 kilometers) above sea level, in the meadows of the Tibetan Plateau, in China. This area is also known as ‘The Roof of the World.’
#7 "Snow Landing" By Jérémie Villet, France, Rising Star Portfolio Award, Winner 2019
With outstretched wings and intense eyes fixed on its prey, a bald eagle lands in fresh snow on a riverbank. Jérémie spent a week observing the behaviour of these birds from his hide. Spotting this one swooping down to catch salmon from the icy water below, he was well-positioned to capture this portrait.
To complete their life cycle, salmon return to their river of origin to spawn, dying shortly afterwards. An overabundance of dying salmon makes for easy meals for opportunistic eagles. Every year around 3,000 bald eagles gather at the Chilkat River in Alaska to feast on salmon.
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238points
#8 "Snow Exposure" By Max Waugh, USA, Black And White, Winner 2019
In a winter whiteout a lone American bison briefly lifts its head from its endless foraging. Max purposefully slowed his shutter speed to blur the snow and ‘paint lines across the silhouette of the bison’. Slightly overexposing the shot and converting it to black and white accentuated the simplicity of the wintry scene.
Swinging their huge heads from side to side, American bison sweep away snow with their muzzles to eat the grasses and sedges buried beneath. Originally a common sight, their largescale slaughter for meat and hides brought them close to extinction in the nineteenth century. But populations are recovering and wild American bison now thrive in national parks.
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217points
#9 "Cradle Of Life" By Stefan Christmann, Germany, Wildlife Photographer Portfolio Award, Winner 2019
It was easy to spot an emperor penguin with a hatching egg, says Stefan, because the father would frequently lift up his brood pouch to check on the chick’s progress. The problem was finding a bird facing the right direction at the crucial moment in the few minutes of good light available each day.
While his partner is away hunting at sea, the male endures the bitter Antarctic winter, without feeding, as he incubates their single egg. After a gruelling 65 to 75 days, the egg begins to hatch. Stefan watched the tiny chick struggle to crack the shell. ‘It kept closing its eyes and looked exhausted,’ he says.
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215points
The chair of the judging panel, Roz Kidman Cox, stated in a press release that photos from the Tibetan Plateau “are rare enough.” She added: “But to have captured such a powerful interaction between a Tibetan fox and a marmot—two species key to the ecology of this high-grassland region—is extraordinary.”
#10 "Sky Hole" By Sven Začek, Estonia, Earth’s Environments, Highly Commended 2019
Positioning his drone directly above the small lake, Sven waited for the sun to emerge from behind the clouds to capture the reflection of the sky in the lake’s mirrored surface. Contending with technical issues and battery-power shortage, his patience was rewarded by this image of ‘an aerial view that looks like an eye’.
Karula National Park in Estonia is home to goshawks, lynx, wolves and bears. The ghostly outline of dead trees surrounding this lake is a telltale sign of the thriving population of beavers inhabiting Karula. Their naturally prolific dam-building causes higher-than-usual water levels that flood the forest floor, rotting the roots of any trees growing close to the shoreline.
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196points
#11 "If Penguins Could Fly" By Eduardo Del Álamo, Spain, Behaviour: Mammals, Highly Commended 2019
A gentoo penguin flees for its life as a leopard seal bursts out of the water. Eduardo was expecting it. He had noticed the penguin resting on a fragment of broken ice and watched the seal swim back and forth. ‘Moments later, the seal flew out of the water, mouth open,’ he says.
Leopard seals are formidable predators. Their slender bodies are built for speed and their wide jaws bear long canine teeth. They hunt almost anything, changing their diet in response to availability and the time of year. Penguins are a regular meal but they also enjoy krill, fish, squid and the pups of other seal species.
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184points
#12 "The Huddle" By Stefan Christmann, Germany, Wildlife Photographer Portfolio Award, Winner 2019
More than 5,000 male emperor penguins huddle on the sea ice, backs to the wind, heads down, sharing body heat. ‘It was a calm day,’ says Stefan, ‘but when I took off my gloves to focus the lens, the cold felt like needles piercing my fingertips.’ Antarctic winters are fierce, with temperatures below minus 40 degrees Celsius.
While the females spend two months at sea feeding, their mates care for the eggs. The male balances his precious cargo on his feet, tucked beneath a fold of skin called the brood pouch. Penguins on the windward edge of the huddle regularly peel off and join the more sheltered side, creating a constant rotation through the warm centre. Survival depends on cooperation.
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182points
Bao’s photo wasn’t the only one of note, however. For example, 14-year-old Cruz Erdmann was awarded the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year for his photo of a bigfin reef squid that he captured while diving at night in the Lembeh Strait, near Indonesia.
#13 "Frozen Moment" By Jérémie Villet, France, Rising Star Portfolio Award, Winner 2019
Entwined in each other’s thick spiral horns, two male Dall sheep pause during a fierce clash. For years, Jérémie had dreamed of photographing pure-white Dall sheep against a snow-clad alpine backdrop. Lying in the snow nearby, he battled with strong winds, heavy snow and bitterly cold temperatures, determined to capture this moment of both ‘purity and power’.
Dall sheep thrive in arctic and subarctic regions of the world. They depend on steep, rugged cliffs and outcrops to provide them with places to escape from predators, while using nearby open grass and meadows to feed. In winter they favour areas with strong winds that remove snow and expose forage.
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180points
#14 "The Garden Of Eels" By David Doubilet, USA, Under Water, Winner 2019
A swaying colony of garden eels vanished into their burrows as soon as David arrived at this underwater scene. So as not to disturb them again, he set up his camera and hid behind a shipwreck where he could trigger the system remotely. It was several hours before the eels re-emerged and several days before David got his perfect shot.
The eels were feeding on plankton drifting in the current and were undisturbed by a wrasse and a cornetfish swimming by. If threatened, garden eels retreat into their burrows. Like many other fish, they detect movement through their lateral line, a sensory organ that runs the length of their bodies.
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173points
#15 "Big Cat And Dog Spat" By Peter Haygarth, UK, Behaviour: Mammals, Highly Commended 2019
In a rare encounter, a lone male cheetah is set upon by a pack of African wild dogs. At first the dogs were wary, but as the rest of their 12-strong pack arrived their confidence grew. They began to encircle and probe the big cat, chirping with excitement. It was all over a few minutes later, when the cheetah fled.
Both cheetahs and African wild dogs have disappeared from large parts of their former territories, with fewer than 7,000 individuals left of each. Threatened by habitat loss, they exist at very low population densities. Pack sizes of African wild dogs have sharply declined from being as many as a hundred members strong to as few as seven to 15 individuals.
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164points
The photography competition has been going on for 55 years now and, this year, received over 48,000 entries from photographers hailing from 100 countries around the world.
#16 "The Challenge" By Françoise Gervais, Canada, Animals In Their Environment, Highly Commended 2019
This polar bear appears tiny as it scales a steep scree slope. Steadying herself in a boat a few hundred metres from the shore, Françoise captured this image which she says shows how ‘even one of the most impressive predators can look insignificant and vulnerable in the immensity and inhospitality of this landscape’.
Climate change has reduced the expanse of sea ice from which polar bears usually hunt seals. Baffin Island polar bears now spend an extra 20 to 30 days a year on land compared to in the 1990s. Adapting to spending more time on land means expanding their diet. Some bears have been spotted scrambling on cliffs to reach birds and their eggs.
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161points
#17 "Snow-Plateau Nomads" By Shangzhen Fan, China, Animals In Their Environment, Winner 2019
A small herd of male chirus makes its way to the relative warmth of the Kumukuli Desert. These nimble antelopes are high-altitude specialists found only on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. For years, Shangzhen made the long, arduous journey to observe them there. Here he drew the contrasting elements of snow and sand together.
Underneath their long hair, chirus have a light, warm underfur called shahtoosh. It grows tightly against their skin and can only be harvested by killing and skinning the chirus. Protection since the 1990s has seen their once-decimated numbers increase, but there is still demand – primarily from Westerners – for shahtoosh shawls.
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159points
#18 "Night Glow" By Cruz Erdmann, New Zealand, 11-14 Years Old, Grand Title Winner
Cruz was on a night dive with his dad when he saw a pair of bigfin reef squid in the shallow water. One swam off but Cruz quickly adjusted his camera and strobe settings, knowing that the opportunity was too good to miss. He shot four frames of the remaining squid before it too disappeared into the inky blackness.
Bigfin reef squid are masters of camouflage, changing their body colour and pattern using their reflective and pigmented skin cells. They also alter their appearance to help them communicate. During courtship, males and females display complex patterns to indicate their willingness to mate.
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158points
#19 "The Rat Pack" By Charlie Hamilton James, UK, Urban Wildlife, Winner 2019
On Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan, brown rats scamper between their home under a tree grille and a pile of rubbish bags full of food waste. Lighting his shot to blend with the glow of the street lights and operating his kit remotely, Charlie captured this intimate, street-level view.
Urban rat populations are rising fast worldwide and their association with spreading disease in humans inspires fear and disgust. Rats are smart and capable of navigating complex networks such as subway systems. Being powerful swimmers, burrowers and jumpers makes these rodents particularly well suited to city living.
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153points
#20 "The Albatross Cave" By Thomas P Peschak, Germany/South Africa, Animals In Their Environment, Highly Commended 2019
The large cave on the side of Te Tara Koi Koia shelters the eggs and chicks of Chatham albatrosses until the young are ready to fly. The island is the only place in the world where they breed naturally, making Thomas one of the privileged few to have witnessed and captured this moment.
Having a single breeding ground means that the future of Chatham albatrosses is insecure. Since the 1980s extreme storms have eroded the soil on Te Tara Koi Koia and destroyed vegetation crucial to nest-building. Conservationists recently translocated a new breeding colony onto the largest of the Chatham Islands to improve their chance of survival.
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150points