Original Summary

Federico Veronesi An emotional scene of an elephant carrying a deceased calf has earned Italian photographer Federico Veronesi the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026. While tracking elephants in Namibia's Huab River Valley, Veronesi spotted an unusual trail of drag marks across the sand of a dry riverbed. Following the tracks, he came across a female elephant carrying a dead calf, its leg wedged between her tusk and trunk. Initially, Veronesi assumed the elephant was the calf's mother. But after sharing his photographs with an elephant research project working in the area, he learned that this wasn't certain. Researchers recognised the elephant as a female who had lost a calf several years earlier and said she had previously picked up dead calves belonging to other females. For Veronesi, the encounter was deeply significant. "Of all the 20 years I've done photographing animals, this is the most heart-wrecking and fascinating and dramatic," he said, describing it as "revealing of the depth and complexity of the emotions, the feelings of the animals." He hopes the image will encourage people to look beyond animals' physical appearance and recognise them as individuals with their own relationships, memories and emotions. "It's a small window that opens just a crack into the complexity of their world," he said. The competition's annual exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum on Friday 16 October 2026. Keep scrolling to see more award-winning images. Labour of love Oscar Whitfield Category : Young Grand Title and 11 to 14 Years Photographer : Oscar Whitfield, Zimbabwe/UK Location : Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe Only by lying in the dust and capturing the beetle at eye level could Whitfield show how much strength its task required. While on a family game drive in Zimbabwe, near his home in Victoria Falls, he spotted the dung beetle struggling to push a ball of dung uphill through the sand, with a trail of flies following closely behind. After experimenting with different angles and compositions, he captured a moment that reveals the extraordinary effort involved in this seemingly simple task. "I hope that when people look at the photograph, they can see too, and maybe appreciate how much can be happening in a small moment in the natural world," says Whitfield. Flight of the Bumblebee Amelie Davis Category : 10 Years and Under Photographer : Amelie Davis, UK Location : Surrey, England You do not need a camera or a plane ticket to take an award-winning photo. Davis captured this shot in the garden using her dad's smartphone. The image freezes in time a single wingbeat from a common carder bumblebee as it prepares to land on a flower. The Meeting Place James Lewin Category : Animals in their Environment Photographer : James Lewin, UK Location : Chyulu Hills National Park, Kenya Lewin captured this dreamy, black-and-white photo of a young bull elephant spraying zebras at a waterhole. He softened the usually harsh light by using a camera converted to infrared. A Watchful Eye Aaron Sanders Category : Animal Portraits Photographer : Aaron Sanders, UK Location : Porthkerris Beach, Cornwall Common octopuses are usually found in the warmer Mediterranean Sea. But with global warming pushing up springtime sea temperatures, sightings across south-west England have massively increased. Sanders described the moment he spotted a single eye peeking from behind the kelp: "We remained perfectly still, watching one another with a seemingly shared curiosity." Scenes from the Swamp Isak Pretorius Category : Birds Photographer : Isak Pretorius, South Africa Location : Mabamba Swamp, Uganda Fewer than 5,300 mature shoebill storks are estimated to remain in the wild. Yet Pretorius, while canoeing with a guide, was able to capture these two – likely a breeding pair collecting material for their nest. Despite their name, shoebill storks are actually more closely related to pelicans, herons and ibises. Birdsong Painted in Light Konrad Gräeter Category : 15-17 Years Photographer : Konrad Gräeter, Germany Location : Baden-Württemberg, Germany Spring sees male blackbirds search for high vantage points to sing and try to attract a mate. This photo was taken in a vineyard at dawn, when the birds sing their most complex compositions. Urban Jungle Seth Forestson Category: Urban Wildlife Photographer: Seth Forestson, UK Location: Lumphini Park, Bangkok, Thailand Forestson lowered himself onto the mud to capture this common water lizard against the city skyline. These adaptable lizards live in cities across South and South East Asia and will take whatever food is available, such as catfish and koi. Making Morays Tony Wu Category: Under Water Photographer: Tony Wu, USA/Japan Location: Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan This is probably the first time the courtship ritual of Abbott's moray eels has been photographed, the NHM said. Wu worked with biologists and used dim red light and a customised fisheye lens to minimise disturbance. Wily Coyotes of San Francisco Loren Elliott Category: Photojournalist Story Award Photographer: Loren Elliott, USA Location: USA San Francisco is estimated to be home to around 100 coyotes, living alongside a large human population. While they can prey on domestic animals, they also help control disease-carrying rodents, and residents' attitudes towards them are mixed. Protective Pose Anton Sorokin Category: Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles Photographer: Anton Sorokin, US Location: Contra Costa County, California, USA Sorokin dipped his camera and lights in a murky pond to catch this glimpse of a California newt laying her eggs. Shifting Sand Sitaram Raul Category : Behaviour: Invertebrates Photographer: Sitaram Raul, India Location: Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India A scorpion is photographed burrowing into the shifting dunes of India's Thar Desert. Exploring the dunes at night, Raul saw many scorpions searching for prey but as temperatures rose after sunrise, the scorpion dug into

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  • 发布时间：2026/10/14 07:26:54