Pole frame, highly praised, animal portrait. On Kolyuchin Island, Chukotka, Russian High School … [+] Arctic, where more than 20 bears are exploring an abandoned ghost town. As climate change reduces sea ice, hunting becomes more difficult, pushing these bears closer to human settlements for scavenging.
Photo: Dmitry Kokh, Russia – Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The world-renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition has released a preview of the acclaimed images that have entered London’s natural history The final stage of the museum’s display of the 100 best nature photos in the world.
Underwater wonderland, disappearing giraffes, curious polar bears looking out the window and tree frog pool parties are some of the fascinating entries in the first clip, showcasing wildlife photography and photojournalism as an art form and challenges us to consider our place in the natural world and our responsibility to protect it.
This year, the Natural History Museum in London will launch a new, redesigned annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition on 14 October featuring these 100 most striking photos photos, showcasing the precious beauty of our planet.
The 2022 competition attracts photographers of all ages and experiences from 93 countries. Each entry is judged anonymously for creativity, originality and technical excellence by an international panel of industry experts.
MORE FROM FORBES Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021: Stunning Photos of Award Winning Works by Cecilia Rodriguez
– Post highly praised photos, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Organization The audience focuses on “Tiina Törmänen’s otherworldly encounter with fish ‘flying’ in cloud-like algae, the contrast between seven-year-old Joshua Cox’s portrait of a stag in Richmond Park, England, and Jose Fragozo’s artful contrast in Nairobi. Captures the natural world and human infrastructure, and Srikanth Mannepuri’s sobering observations on unsustainable scales of fishing.”
Around the world, 100 photos inspire curiosity, connection and wonder ,” noted Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum. “These inspiring images convey human impact on the natural world in ways that words cannot—from the urgency of biodiversity decline to the inspiring rebound of protected species. “
Images of winners including the prestigious Grand Title Award and Young Grand Title Award will be announced on October 11, 2022.
The Natural History Museum exhibit opens October 14 and runs through July 2, 2023.
59th Annual Wildlife Photographer Entries to the contest open on October 17, 2022 and close on December 8.
Great Ape and Little Meerkat
Bonobo and cat Ferret, highly praised, behavior, mammal category. Unusual sight… [+]
Photo: Christian Ziegler, Germany – Wildlife Photographer of the Year
It is very unusual to gently see a young male bonobo hugging a meerkat cub deep in the rainforest. This photographer is Tracking down a group of these endangered great apes, Barbara Furus of the Max Planck Society is studying them.
He recalls setting out “before dawn,” at trekking through flooded forests” and often walked 20 kilometers a day. “The bonobos hugged and petted the mongoose for over an hour,” Ziegler said. The situation may have had a darker start. The bonobos were Omnivorous, mainly eats fruit, but hunts occasionally. This meerkat pup – eventually released unharmed – was probably taken when its mother was killed.
Underwater Wonderland, Highly recommended, Undewater category. Fish Swimming … [ +] Cloud-like algae in the Port of Talamanca, Costa Rica’s old town.
This photographer was thrilled to see a school of curious European bass on her annual lake snorkel. In the past three years, she has only found dead fish.
Immersed in a surreal scene, she framed orange-finned fish flying over clouds of pink algae. While it creates a beautiful scene, overgrowth of algae can be problematic for aquatic wildlife due to climate change and warming waters, as it depletes oxygen and blocks sunlight.
The Giraffe Disappeared, Highly Commended, Natural Art Category. Nature… [+] World vs. Human Kenya Infrastructure in the capital Nairobi National Park.
Jose Fragozo captures the contrast between nature and human infrastructure with this giraffe, dwarfing the massive new pillars of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway,
Nairobi National Park, on the edge of Kenya’s capital, is a haven for hundreds of species of mammals, birds, reptiles and plants. In 2019, Kenya completed the so-called Phase 2A Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), building a 6km railway on 178 pillars in the middle of the park. Conservationists and conservationists have warned that the impact of SGR on parks will be devastating.
Nairobi National Park has been affected by rapid urbanisation, infrastructure development and rising surrounding land prices. This photo shows a giraffe running between railroad posts as it is likely to sense the noise and vibrations of an approaching train.
Treefrog Pool Party, Highly Commended, Behaviour, Amphibian & Reptile categories. Rare Breed… [+] Osa’s Frog Frenzy Peninsula, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
Troubled by mosquitoes, Quill wades into chest-deep murky water where a group of male gliding tree frogs is calling.
At dawn, thousands of females come to the pool to mate and lay their eggs on the overhanging palm fronds. Here, unmated males seek out female mates.
These spectacular mass breeding events occur only a few times a year in a few remote areas. Each female lays about 200 eggs, forming huge egg masses.
Finally the tadpoles will fall into the water below.
Dipper Dispute, Highly Commended, Behavioural Birds category. Two Big Dippers vying for prime position
The two Big Dippers had a heated debate about the golden space on the submerged rock.
Big Dipper fish use “dipping” rocks as launch pads to scout rivers, then dive to hunt mayflies and caddis larvae and small fish, swallowing tiny catches while submerged .
Only one day’s harvest, high praise, ocean, larger image category. Sobering… [+] Unsustainable scale in India Andhra Pradesh Kakinada Fishing.
photo : Srikanth Mannepuri, India – Wildlife Photographer of the Year
This photo is a sobering look at the scale of unsustainable fishing. The photographer was shocked to see so many recently caught marlin and sailfish in one place one morning.
To show the scale of the fish market, he used a drone to get a bird’s-eye view of this photo.
Sailfish and marlin are apex marine predators essential to the ecosystem. Globally, 85% of fish stocks are currently overfished by humans. Without urgent efforts to protect marine habitats and create truly sustainable fishing practices, we could soon start losing species forever.
Life and Death in Fur Farming, Highly Commended, Photojournalism. American Mink Bag… [+] Fighting for space in space Small cages on a fur farm in Lindassen, Sweden.
Ten, then eight mink kittens trapped in a nest box. American mink kits compete for space in tiny cages on fur farms. It is crucial for photographers to document cruelty to inspire change.
On a mink farm in Sweden, a sign above a cramped, desolate cage indicates that two kittens have died.
Since this photo was taken, the farm now has slightly larger cages due to changes in legislation, but the standard of living is still poor. In 2020, scientists discovered that minks can be infected with the Covid-19 virus, which can mutate and spread to humans.
In response, Denmark closed the industry. In Sweden in 2022, the government allowed some mink farms to reopen after a temporary ban on farming.
Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The Snow Stag, Highly Commended, Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 10 years and younger. A red … [+] stag stands majestically It’s snowing in Richmond Park, London.
A red deer stag looks majestic as it snows: Cox and his dad arrived in London when it had just started snowing in Richmond Park. They followed the deer to a safe distance when suddenly the snow thickened and one of the deer stopped. “He almost looked like he was washing a snow,” Cox said.
Richmond Park is home to red deer and fawn herds, which have been around since 1637. Stroll freely. Grazing deer help manage the park’s landscape.
Octopus Case, Highly Commended, Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 15 – 17 year old category. A
… [+] coconut octopus sticking out of its flap Head to the Lembeh Strait in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
During a silt dive, the young photographer was spotted by a coconut octopus, which poked its head out of its flip to take shelter.
When shooting, Sloth reduced the power of the flash so as not to disturb it. The octopus closed the lid of the shell as it approached, but then slowly opened it again, revealing the color and coils.
The coconut octopus is one of the most intelligent invertebrates in the world and one of the few sea creatures that uses tools. Especially in Shapo in the Lembeh Strait of Sulawesi, Indonesia, with few places to hide, it has developed a unique survival strategy that makes it one of the most abundant animals in the ocean.
This small octopus mainly preys on shrimps, crabs, clams and small fish. To protect its soft body while foraging on sand or dirt, it hides in various objects—sometimes even coconut shells—to form mobile homes that it can carry with it as it “walks” on its two arms.
It can close the shells instantly, making its lair a very safe fortress.
The Right Look, Highly Commended, Animal Portraits . The photographer became the object of … [+] fascinated by a calf in Ross Harbor, Auckland Island, New Zealand.
The whale is investigating him, the main challenge for the photographer is to swim enough away from the curious calf Take pictures from far away. The encounter lasted 30 minutes, with the whales circling him, swimming away, and then coming back to look.
New Zealand’s southern right whale population, known as “tohorā” in the Maori language, was hunted to near extinction by European whalers in the 1800s, and then in the 1900s Hunted by Soviet whalers.
Now protected, the population has recovered from a small population of just 13 breeding females to over 2,000.
New Zealand’s whales are among the fattest and healthiest on the planet. The key to their success may be the apparent adaptability of their foraging strategies.
Elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, the recovery of South-right populations appears to have been hit by ocean warming. Whales in South Africa have been forced to move their feeding grounds, and their reproductive success has declined as a result.
Burrow Mates, Highly Commended, Belongs to the Environment category of animals. … [+] A beetle and a Washington, USA Dwarf Rabbit near Quincy
Photo: Morganheim, USA – Wildlife Photographer of the Year An intimate encounter between a beetle and a rabbit was captured. Heim set up camera traps in the burrows where the pygmy rabbits are active in the Columbia Basin to observe their movements and captured the moment of interaction as one of the rabbits sniffed a stink beetle hiding in the burrow.
These rabbits live in Washington State’s Columbia Basin, which has become increasingly overgrazed, with large areas cleared for crops. With this small, isolated population facing extinction, conservationists intervened, raising the number to 150 and counting.
Sloth Dilemma, Highly Commended, Urban Wildlife category. A sloth and a dog meet in … [+] Talamanca Port, Costa Rica Old Town
Peaceful encounters between sloths and dogs are not common. The brown-throated three-toed sloth in Puerto Talamanca, Costa Rica, has crossed the road and climbed down a palm tree, but to reach the next bush, it needs to return to the ground to crawl.
Met a big dog and it froze. The dog attended the Sloth Conservation Foundation’s sloth safety training program and just sniffed it. Sloths live in trees and rarely descend to the forest floor. As habitat loss increases and forests are fragmented, they are forced to traverse urbanized areas in search of food, suitable habitat and mates.
Lost Flood, highly praised , Wetlands – larger image category. Effects of drought… [+]
The impact of drought on the Zambezi floodplain was severe. During the worst drought in 30 years, Zambezi Authority station manager Lubinda Lubinda stands between old and new homes in the Baroque floodplain, one of Africa’s largest floodplains.
Usually at the bottom left of his old house, a few meters lower than in previous years. Climate change and deforestation mean the Barots in the floodplain suffer more frequent droughts.
The diversity of wildlife depends on regular flooding, as does the way of life of the Barots. Wetlands provide people with fish, livestock pastures, fertile soil and vegetation for thatching and making household items
The Baroque floodplain is like a sponge and makes up the Zambezi Much of the catchment area and provide a much-needed “safety valve” against climate impacts such as droughts and floods for local communities and downstream countries.
As global climate change increases droughts, the long-term ecological function of the Baroque floodplain is slowly disappearing, threatening not only the livelihoods and economic stability of some 250,000 people in this part of the world part, but also the biodiversity of the region.
The “crime scene” surrounding coltan mining
Wanted!, Highly Commended, Photojournalism category. The “crime scene” of the coltan encroachment … [+] Step into nature at the Kahuzi Biega National Park in Hamburg, Germany.
The “crime scene” of mining encroachment on nature is depicted through a photographer’s flashlight to highlight the impact of coltan mining.
Coltan emits blue light and is a component of cell phone and laptop batteries. Here, photographers surround it with mining tools and the remains of animals affected by the industry, all confiscated by customs authorities: gorilla skulls, vertebrae and leg bones, and porcupine quills.
Coltan is extracted from the riverbeds of the Democratic Republic of Congo by low-income miners who hunt wildlife and damage or even destroy in search of coltan forest area.
Coltan mining areas include national parks such as Kahuzbega National Park, home to mountain gorillas. In this park alone, the gorilla population has nearly halved. In addition, gorillas were killed for meat due to poverty caused by miners relocating the local population.
Hunting and trading wild animals threatens the future of the country’s gorillas and increases the risk of the virus spreading to humans. When humans travel through forests to dig for minerals that make their way into cell phones, computers and other devices, they can act as catalysts for a phenomenon called “spillover” — when viruses leap from one species to another. In fact, this spillover is the source of two-thirds of new infectious diseases, including Covid-19.
Coltan is short for niobium tantalite, a dull metal ore. After refining, coltan is turned into a heat-resistant powder, the metal tantalum, which has the unique property of storing electrical charges.
Coltan is found in granite pegmatites, pockets where deep crystalline lava is found. Pegmatites contain many rare metals, as well as huge crystals of some common minerals.
Coltan is used in many electronic devices around the world due to its unique electrical properties. The two main products are cell phones and laptops, although it is also used in other electronics.
Coltan was mined by hand in the 1800s using methods similar to gold mining in California. Crowds dug basins in streams, scraping the mud off the surface to get to the coltan below. They then “slosh” the water in the vat, causing the coltan to sink to the bottom due to its weight.
As part of the Leibniz Institute’s interdisciplinary project to analyse changes in biodiversity, measures are being developed to identify and deal with species conservation crimes.
