Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Amazing animals
- Published
This wonderful photograph is the People's Choice prize-winning snap. Pikin, a lowland gorilla, was rescued and moved from her old enclosure in a safe forest sanctuary in Cameroon to a new one to be with her gorilla friends. Here she is on her way home having a hug with her caretaker.
This picture was one of the runner-up photos. It shows a southern humpback whale and her baby. The mother had travelled from the Antarctic to warmer water around Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean in order to have her little one. They were photographed peacefully floating about!
This three-toed sloth in Brazil was photographed just hanging out in his tree! The photographer, Luciano Candisani had to climb the cecropia tree in the Atlantic rainforest of southern Bahia, Brazil, to take this photo. It looks very high up! Luciano was rewarded by being named a finalist in the competition - well done!
This photo of a lilac-breasted roller bird riding a zebra at Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya was also one of the finalists. This roller spent an hour or more riding around and eating some tasty insects!
The last of the finalists was by photographer Debra Garside. Polar bear cubs and their mother in Wapusk National Park in Canada. The photographer waited six days for this polar bear family to emerge from their den in high winds and freezing temperatures.
The rest of the images in the competition are so amazing, we though you'd want to see more! Here's a hammerhead shark among a school of cottonmouth jack fish. Hammerhead sharks are generally found in the deep waters of Coco's Island in Costa Rica where the currents are often very fierce and it's difficult to see.
Gorillas feeding on young bamboo shoots and relaxing in a leafy open spot. This 'Hirwa' (which means the lucky one) gorilla family were pictured after two hours hiking in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
This herd of zebra have a near perfect reflection and were pictured in South Africa's Zimanga Game Reserve.
This fluffy Caribbean flamingo chick is less than five days old and is with one of its parents in the Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in Mexico.
A snowy owl shaking off its feathers on a rainy winter day. This one looks just like Harry Potter's owl Hedwig!
A giraffe grooming its friend against a white overcast sky at Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve.
A colourful blue feather leg dragonfly and a normal fly in Bad Alexandersbad, Germany. What an unusual sight!
A close-up picture of a baby orangutan laying its small hand in the hand of its mother in Borneo, Asia.
A small southern white-faced owl in a tree at a campsite in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. These owls have black-tipped ‘ear’ tufts and usually lay their eggs in the old nests of other birds.
A sunfish in an upright position ready to be cleaned by Mediterranean rainbow wrasses and other small wrasses. Wrasses are a family of fish and many of them are brightly coloured.
A polar bear walking along the edge of ice. Her white coat is glowing in the setting sun.
A photographer from the UK took this picture of Lilian’s lovebirds (a small African parrot species) splashing around at a waterhole in Zambia's South Luangwa National Park. It certainly looks like a fun way to cool off.
These bears were snapped at Kuril Lake in Russia, where they were waiting to go fishing for salmon. But they spotted the photographer and both stood up on their back legs to take a look at what he was doing! Curious creatures...
This leopard lives in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The guides at the park call her Fundi. Just before this picture was taken, she had come down out of her tree and stood by the photographer's car - and just stared at him. Look at those eyes!
This photo was taken in the Caribbean. In it, we can see a gurnard fish fanning out its fins to scare away predators. It can also use its fins to walk around and poke the ocean floor for food.
If you live in the city of Anchorage in Alaska, chances are you may have come across one of these animals before. This is a moose called Hook just taking a rest at the roadside. It looks a bit chilly to us!
You might not have heard of this bird before. It is called a roseate spoonbill and a photographer took this picture of one in Florida in the USA. Its wings are up in the air like this because it was just landing on the water.
These giraffes from the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya were photographed walking in formation through the plains. Three of them walked into a shadow at just the right time which allowed the photographer to take this arty shot.
- Published18 October 2017
- Published12 September 2017
- Published9 January 2018
