Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024: Organisers release stunning pictures

This jackdaw was snapped bringing stones to its nest. The birds are known for building new nests every year which are made from lots of different materials including twigs, feathers, wool, mud and even animal dung. This one, which is part of a pair, kept adding rocks to its home.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is back.

The contest, which is now in its 60th year, highlights some of the best nature photography from all around the world.

The 2024 competition attracted nearly 60,000 entries from 117 different countries and territories.

Here are just some of the highly commended entries from this year's competition.

The submissions were judged anonymously on their creativity, originality, and technical excellence by a panel of expert judges.

The winning entries, which includes the individual category winners as well as the grand title and young grand title awards, will be announced on 8 October at a special ceremony.

This leaping stoat is most certainly an eye-catching sight! It was photographed jumping high in the air above the snow in France. Scientists actually refer to this behaviour as dancing, although it's not quite clear what it means.

Although there's still some time before the winners are announced, the Natural History Museum in London, which developed the competition, has released some of the images which were highly commended in their categories.

They'll be included in an exhibition which will showcase 100 photographs from around the world from 11 October 2024 in London.

The photographers who snapped these amazing images aren't in the running for the top prizes, but their work does showcase the incredible levels of talent in the world of wildlife photography.

"These images represent the evolution of the competition through the years, from pure natural history to photography that fully embraces representation of the natural world - the beauty and the challenges," said the chair of the judging panel Kathy Moran.

Take a look at this vibrantly coloured spider which is named after the singer David Bowie. Photographer Lam Soon Tak spotted it carrying an egg sac in the highlands of Malaysia.

How cosy do these tawny owls look? They caught the attention of young photographer Sasha who had been watching the pair for several days in a park near his home in the German capital of Munich.

Check out this stunning scene. It was captured by young photographer Shreyovi who stumbled upon two Indian peafowl while out walking with her dad in the forest. She got down on the ground to take the special shot from a low angle.

These seals were snapped having a snooze in very chilly waters by photographer Tamara who was on a nine-week expedition in Antarctica. She noticed the seals had fallen asleep next to the ship she was on, with the tips of their nostrils at the water’s surface.

Take a look at this sea of mussels! Did you know they bind together in this way to avoid being washed away from the shoreline?

This incredible image is of the Bråsvellbreen glacier in Norway. The glacier is part of Austfonna, which is Europe’s third largest ice cap. Some scientific research suggest glaciers like this one could disappear completely within 400 years due to climate change.

This lion and lioness were snapped with an eerie backdrop of storm clouds lit by the setting sun in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park.

This photograph of a Pallas’s cat was taken in Mongolia during the Lunar New Year. The animal's thick winter coat helps it survive at altitudes up to a whopping 5,000 metres!