Wildlife Photographer of the Year comes to Birmingham

This photo of a manatee and its calf off the coast of Florida is one of those on display

An exhibition showing some of the top entries from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is to go on display in Birmingham.

This year’s competition attracted 59,228 entries taken by photographers from 117 countries and territories.

Judging has already taken place at the Natural History Museum in London and the winners will be announced on 8 October.

The pictures will be on display in a few weeks' time in Waterhall, at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery until April.

The chair of the judging panel, Kathy Moran, said: “In this selection you see species diversity, a range of behaviour and conservation issues."

These seals were spotted on a nine-week expedition in Antarctica's Weddell Sea

Xingchao Zhu photographed a Pallas's cat on the frozen plateau of Inner Mongolia

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is run by the Natural History Museum and began as a magazine competition with just 361 entries.

Last year's winner was Laurent Ballesta, from France, who photographed a tri-spine horseshoe crab in the Philippines.

This photo of a jaguar biting a caiman was taken on the São Lourenço river in Brazil

The photos were previously on display in an exhibition at the Natural History Museum, showcasing 100 photographs.

You can see Highly Commended photographs from all of the categories on the Natural History Museum website.