The wild world has a way of leaving us speechless. One moment, it’s breathtakingly beautiful; the next, it hits us with a heartbreaking reminder of life’s fragility. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 competition captures both sides of nature through extraordinary images that stay with you long after you’ve seen them.
Organized by London’s Natural History Museum, the competition celebrates photographers who combine patience, skill, and a keen eye for those once-in-a-lifetime moments. Now in its 62nd edition, the contest attracted a record-breaking 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories.
This year’s top honor went to Italian photographer Federico Veronesi for The Aftermath, a moving black-and-white photograph of an elephant carrying its deceased calf in Namibia. Meanwhile, young British photographer Oscar Whitfield, who lives in Zimbabwe, earned the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title with his striking image of a dung beetle pushing its cargo across dusty ground.
In a fascinating first, both overall winning photographs were captured in black and white. The 2026 exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum on October 16 and runs through July 11, 2027. Here are 19 powerful award-winning photographs that celebrate nature’s wonders while reminding us what’s at stake.
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#1. Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026: The Aftermath by Federico Veronesi
Location: Huab River Valley, Damaraland, Namibia
"Federico was tracking elephants when he came across an unusual pattern of drag marks in the sand of a dry riverbed. The source became clear when he caught up with a family group. A female emerged with the calf, its leg wedged between her tusk and trunk. Behaviors centering on death have been observed in both Asian and African elephants, including vocalizations, guarding the dead, inspecting and handling bones, and carrying the deceased. Some researchers suggest these behaviors could indicate an elephant’s journey to understanding death, while others interpret these actions as possible displays of grief."
#2. Young Grand Title and 11 to 14 Years: Labour of love by Oscar Whitfield, Zimbabwe/UK
Location: Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe
Only by lying in the dust and capturing the beetle at eye level could Whitfield show how much strength its task required. While on a family game drive in Zimbabwe, near his home in Victoria Falls, he spotted the dung beetle struggling to push a ball of dung uphill through the sand, with a trail of flies following closely behind. After experimenting with different angles and compositions, he captured a moment that reveals the extraordinary effort involved in this seemingly simple task.
"I hope that when people look at the photograph, they can see too, and maybe appreciate how much can be happening in a small moment in the natural world," says Whitfield.
#3. 10 Years and Under: Flight of the Bumblebee by Amelie Davis, UK
Location: Surrey, England
You do not need a camera or a plane ticket to take an award-winning photo. Davis captured this shot in the garden using her dad’s smartphone. The image freezes in time a single wingbeat from a common carder bumblebee as it prepares to land on a flower.
#4. Animals in their Environment: The Meeting Place by James Lewin, UK
Location: Chyulu Hills National Park, Kenya
Lewin captured this dreamy, black-and-white photo of a young bull elephant spraying zebras at a waterhole. He softened the usually harsh light by using a camera converted to infrared.
#5. Animal Portraits: A Watchful Eye by Aaron Sanders, UK
Location: Porthkerris Beach, Cornwall
Common octopuses are usually found in the warmer Mediterranean Sea. But with global warming pushing up springtime sea temperatures, sightings across south-west England have massively increased. Sanders described the moment he spotted a single eye peeking from behind the kelp: "We remained perfectly still, watching one another with a seemingly shared curiosity."
#6. Birds: Scenes from the Swamp by Isak Pretorius, South Africa
Location: Mabamba Swamp, Uganda
Fewer than 5,300 mature shoebill storks are estimated to remain in the wild. Yet Pretorius, while canoeing with a guide, was able to capture these two – likely a breeding pair collecting material for their nest. Despite their name, shoebill storks are actually more closely related to pelicans, herons and ibises.
#7. 15-17 Years: Birdsong Painted in Light by Konrad Gräeter, Germany
Location: Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Spring sees male blackbirds search for high vantage points to sing and try to attract a mate. This photo was taken in a vineyard at dawn, when the birds sing their most complex compositions.
#8. Urban Wildlife: Urban Jungle by Seth Forestson, UK
Location: Lumphini Park, Bangkok, Thailand
Forestson lowered himself onto the mud to capture this common water lizard against the city skyline. These adaptable lizards live in cities across South and South East Asia and will take whatever food is available, such as catfish and koi.
#9. Under Water: Making Morays by Tony Wu, USA/Japan
Location: Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan
This is probably the first time the courtship ritual of Abbott’s moray eels has been photographed, the NHM said. Wu worked with biologists and used dim red light and a customised fisheye lens to minimise disturbance.
#10. Photojournalist Story Award: Wily Coyotes of San Francisco by Loren Elliott, USA
Location: USA
San Francisco is estimated to be home to around 100 coyotes, living alongside a large human population. While they can prey on domestic animals, they also help control disease-carrying rodents, and residents’ attitudes towards them are mixed.
#11. Behaviour – Amphibians and Reptiles: Protective Pose by Anton Sorokin, US
Location: Contra Costa County, California, USA
Sorokin dipped his camera and lights in a murky pond to catch this glimpse of a California newt laying her eggs.
#12. Behaviour – Invertebrates: Shifting Sand by Sitaram Raul, India
Location: Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India
A scorpion is photographed burrowing into the shifting dunes of India’s Thar Desert. Exploring the dunes at night, Raul saw many scorpions searching for prey but as temperatures rose after sunrise, the scorpion dug into the sand to escape the intense heat.
#13. Oceans: The Bigger Picture: Night-Time Catch by Alex Lindbloom, USA
Location: Off Cenderawasih Bay, Papua, Indonesia
A whale shark investigates the catch of a mobile net-fishing platform, known as a bagan. Lindbloom searched for sharks around dawn, using the bagan’s bright lights to illuminate them when there was too little natural light for his drone.
#14. Plants and Fungi: Shedding Light by Agorastos Papatsanis, Greece
Location: Litochoro, Pieria, Greece
Papatsanis used ultrviolet light to illuminate mushrooms known as "beautiful bonnets" growing from a decaying log on the lower slopes of Mount Olympus in Greece.
#15. Rising Star Award: Hidden Depths by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, Germany
Location: Germany and Northern Ireland, UK
Tinker-Tsavalas uses macro photography to reveal the intricate details of tiny animals that are easily overlooked, particularly in urban habitats. His interest in macro photography developed during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when he was restricted to habitats close to his home in Berlin.
#16. Natural Artistry: Escape Artistry by Michał Michalski, Poland
Location: Litochoro, Pieria, Greece
Michalski used a slow shutter speed to photograph birds flying across a background of leafless birch trees. A field of unharvested sunflowers had attracted mixed flocks of birds, especially goldfinches and bramblings, before they were startled into the air by a sparrowhawk.
#17. Wetlands: The Bigger Picture: The Great Divide by Alex Visbal, Colombia
Location: Stansbury Bay, Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA
Visbal documents how a single engineered line can reshape an entire wetland as part of a long-term project on the industrial impact on waterways. The pink comes from microbes thriving in extremely salty water after the area was cut off from fresh water.
#18. Photojournalism: Warning Sign by Francisco Negroni, Chile
Location: Route 40, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina
Negroni records this scene of a dead puma displayed as a hunting trophy in Santa Cruz, a province in Argentine Patagonia. Although Santa Cruz banned puma hunting in 2025, illegal persecution continues.
#19. Portfolio Award: Secret Worlds by Kutub Uddin, Bangladesh/UK
Location: West Sussex, England, UK
Uddin’s photographs explore the miniature world of slime moulds, organisms that can be barely visible to the naked eye and whose fruiting structures are just one to two millimetres high.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026?
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 is the 62nd edition of an international photography competition organized by the Natural History Museum in London. It celebrates exceptional wildlife photography, showcasing remarkable animal behavior, natural beauty, and the environmental challenges facing species worldwide.
Who won Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026?
Italian photographer Federico Veronesi won the overall Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 title with his black-and-white photograph The Aftermath, which depicts an elephant carrying its deceased calf in Namibia and captures a deeply emotional moment in the natural world.
Who won Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026?
Oscar Whitfield, a young British photographer living in Zimbabwe, won Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026. His winning photograph features a dung beetle pushing its cargo across dusty ground, revealing the fascinating details of a small creature’s everyday struggle.
How many entries did the 2026 competition receive?
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 competition received a record-breaking 65,403 entries from photographers across 121 countries and territories. The impressive participation highlights the competition’s global reach and the growing interest in wildlife photography and visual storytelling.
When can visitors see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 exhibition?
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 exhibition opens at London’s Natural History Museum on October 16, 2026, and runs until July 11, 2027. Visitors can explore 100 award-winning photographs, and the exhibition is also scheduled to travel elsewhere.
