On a frigid early morning during Chinese New Year, a furtive Pallas’s cat prepares for a breakfast of freshly caught birds. At this time, Xingchao Zhu took a photo. The wildcat’s piercing golden eyes connect with the camera, with the light of the setting moon creating a dramatic backdrop.
Xingchao Zhu comes face to face with a Pallas’s cat as the moon sets. Xingchao followed a group of Pallas cats for several days on the icy plateau of Inner Mongolia during the Chinese New Year in February 2023. Shortly before dawn, Xingchao managed to make eye contact with this cat, just as he had captured a small bird.
The thick winter coats of Pallas’s cats help them survive at altitudes up to 5,000 meters (16,400 feet). They avoid larger predators through stealth, and their low, rounded ears are thought to allow them to see over obstacles while remaining hidden.
Credit: Xingchao Zhu / Nature Photographer of the Year ZHUXINGCHAO
The resulting image was absolutely captivating and one of this year’s commendable awards for the Awards for nature photographer of the year. Now in its 60th year, the competition received almost 60,000 entries from 117 countries and territories around the world. Photographers of all ages and experience levels registered for the chance to take home the prestigious Grand Title and Young Grand Title, which will be announced on October 8.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year was developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. The winning photographs will go on display at the museum in South Kensington on October 11 and run until June 29, 2025.
(To see the images in their full, beautiful glory, click to expand.)
William Fortescue uses a background of storm clouds, illuminated by the setting sun, to show lions mating.
It was the rainy season when William visited the Serengeti National Park. He saw the lions mate several times before the female aborted the mating. It wasn’t until William viewed a magnified image that he noticed the saliva trails and explosion of insects from the male’s mane. Lions can mate year-round, but synchronizing the births of cubs increases a pride’s reproductive success. Female pride members are shown
cooperative behavior, including raising cubs together to ensure their survival into adulthood.
Credit: William Fortescue/ Nature Photographer of the Year WILL STRENGTHEN
Theo Bosboom shows how mussels bond together to prevent them from being washed away from the coastline.
Theo likes to take photos of species that are not normally considered beautiful or important, to highlight their undervalued significance. He took this photo from above with a probe lens: a long, thin macro wide-angle lens.
Mussels play an important role in creating dynamic ecosystems for other marine invertebrates such as crustaceans, worms and even small fish. They improve water quality by filtering and extracting plankton, bacteria and toxins, preventing them from reaching dangerous levels.
Credit: Theo Bosboom / Nature Photographer of the Year Theo Bosboom
Shreyovi Mehta thinks two Indian peacocks ‘look perfect for a photo’.
Shreyovi was walking through the forest with her parents when she saw this scene. She ran back to her father, who was carrying the cameras, and then sat on the ground to take a photo from a low angle.
Keoladeo is known for its birdlife and attracts large numbers of waterfowl in winter. Peacocks are residents that stay in large trees all year round. They rest in the shade during the day and are more active in open areas at dawn and dusk.
Credit: Shreyovi Mehta / Nature Photographer of the Year
Sasha Jumanca finds two tawny owls curiously watching people passing by.
Sasha had been watching these tawny owls for several days in a park near his house. He had seen tawny owls in the area before, but was surprised to discover this one so close to the heart of the city.
Owls leave the nest before they can fly, in a stage known as ‘branching’. They jump, flutter and climb around branches of nearby trees for several weeks while begging their parents for food, before finally taking flight and flying away.
Credit: Sasha Jumanca / Nature Photographer of the Year
Samual Stone watches as a jackdaw brings stones to its nest.
Samual had been eyeing the hole in the trunk of a half-fallen willow tree in London’s Bushy Park – he’d seen a pair of jackdaws visiting with their beaks full of hair from the fur of local deer.
Jackdaws are highly intelligent and adaptable. Every year they build new nests from all kinds of materials: twigs, branches, feathers, wool, moss, mud and animal manure. This couple continued to add stones to theirs.
Credit: Samual Stone/Nature Photographer of the Year Samuel C-stone
Lam Soon Tak sees a vibrantly colored David Bowie spider with an egg sac in his hand.
Lam was exploring the highlands of Malaysia when he came across this spider. Perched on broken branches next to a river, the bright white disk of eggs in the spider’s jaws stood out against the lush green moss.
Found in Malaysia, Singapore and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, this spider was named in 2008 by arachnologist and Bowie fan Dr. Peter Jäger. He thought the distinctive markings up to the spider’s head resembled the makeup the singer wore in the 1970s.
Credit: Lam Soon Tak / Nature Photographer of the Year
Jose Manuel Grandío braves sub-zero temperatures and witnesses an ermine leaping high into the air above the snow.
Winter is Jose’s favorite season for photography. When he saw this stoat leaping into the air on the last day of his journey, he saw the performance as an “expression of exuberance” as the small mammal fluttered around in a fresh snowfall.
Scientists call this behavior dancing, although opinions are divided on its motivation, from an attempt to confuse prey to a parasitic infection. Stoats are usually active at night and hunt small mammals and birds.
Credit: Jose Manuel Grandío / Nature Photographer of the Year
Jason Gulley stares through clear water at a manatee and a calf wandering among the seagrass.
Jason has photographed many manatee mother-and-calf pairs. The expression on this calf’s face and the bubbles trailing from its fins, combined with the hopeful backstory, have made it one of Jason’s favorite images.
Here in the Crystal River, an algae bloom caused by agricultural runoff led to a decline in the seagrass beds that manatees eat. The local community took action, restoring habitat and improving water quality, resulting in more manatees than ever recorded in the winter of 2022/2023.
Credit: Jason Gulley / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Georgina Steytler observes a ball of burrowing male Dawson bees competing for access to a female.
Georgina has been studying these bees for a few years and knew she had to keep her distance. Lying on the hot, rocky, sunlit ground with sand blowing into her face, her long lens allowed her to get the perfect image.
When female Dawson’s burrowing bees emerge in the spring, they are surrounded by males competing to mate with them. After mating, the female bee digs a new burrow filled with pollen and eggs, from which the hatched bees will emerge in the spring.
Credit: Georgina Steytler / Nature Photographer of the Year GEORGINA