A playing lynx, a bear and flamingos against the backdrop of wires. Who did the audience vote for in the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" contest?
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest has announced the winner of the public vote. Austrian photographer Josef Stefan, who took an impressive shot titled Flying Rodent, writes the BBC, became the winner.
Photo: Josef Stefan / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Josef Stefan spent two weeks in Torre de Juan Abad, in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real. He hid in an ambush for several days, and then he got lucky: suddenly a young lynx appeared with its prey and began to play with it — tossing it into the air and catching it.
The lynx was completely engrossed in the game for almost 20 minutes. Sometimes it stood on its hind legs, never taking its eyes off the rodent.
"It seemed to me as if the rodent could fly," the photographer said.
Finally, the animal lost interest in the game and carried its prey behind a bush to eat.
The Iberian lynx is one of the rarest wild cats in the world. In the early 2000s, it was on the verge of extinction — fewer than 100 individuals remained. Thanks to conservation programs, the population has grown to over 2000 individuals, but it is still considered a vulnerable species.
In the voting for the People's Choice Award, 24 other nominees also won, for whom a record number of people voted this year: 85,917 people.
Highly Commended Finalists
All five top photographs will be part of an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, which will run until July 12, 2026.
Family Rest, Christopher Paetkau (Canada)
Photo: Christopher Paetkau / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A female polar bear and her three cubs rest during a long journey along the coast of Hudson Bay. There is less ice in the sea, making it more difficult for polar bears to hunt. However, scientists working in Svalbard have begun to notice that some bears have started to adapt to the conditions.
Beauty Against the Beast, by Alexandre Brisson (Switzerland)
Photo: Alexandre Brisson / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The photographer captured a group of lesser flamingos gathered at sunset between power lines in the Walvis Bay reserve in Namibia. Two birds taking flight especially contrast with the industrial landscape.
Dancing in the Headlights, by Will Nicholls (UK)
Photo: Will Nicholls / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
These bear cubs were captured playfully fighting on a road in Canada's Jasper National Park. It's rare to see bear cubs: mothers usually try to keep them out of human sight.
Never-ending Struggle, by Kohei Nagira (Japan)
Photo: Kohei Nagira / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
On the Natsuke Peninsula, the photographer captured a deer carrying the head of a defeated rival on its antlers. According to a local fisherman, the deer dragged the entire body for several days before the head detached. The animal continued to survive alone throughout the winter months.
Other Nominees
Hold Me Tightly, by Dvir Barkay (USA)
Photo: Dvir Barkay / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A female sloth shelters her baby from a downpour in Costa Rica. A 2025 study showed that sloths survive precisely because of their slow-paced life in trees.
The Final Portrait, by Nima Sarikhani (UK)
Photo: Nima Sarikhani / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A bear cub traveled along the icy coast of Svalbard with its mother. They were soon driven away by humans; later, the female was found dead, and the cub was shot due to aggressive behavior – this is likely its last photograph.
Ready to Pounce, by Joseph Ferraro (USA)
Photo: Joseph Ferraro / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The photographer captured a nymph of a big-eyed bug (or assassin bug) lurking inside a flower in Michigan. It can remain motionless for hours, attacking only when prey gets too close. It strikes lightning fast, and then venom finishes the job.
Along for the Ride, by Chris Gug (USA)
Photo: Chris Gug / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
This crab, clinging to a drifting jellyfish, was captured at night in the Lembeh Strait (Indonesia). It's unknown if it was traveling, hiding, or hunting from this "living raft."
A Fragile Future, by Lance van de Vyver (South Africa)
Photo: Lance van de Vyver / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
This pangolin cub ended up in a rehabilitation center in South Africa. Pangolins are among the most frequent victims of illegal animal trade. Its mother, caught by poachers, died shortly after giving birth to the cub.
Dark Knight, by Prasenjeet Yadav (India)
Photo: Prasenjeet Yadav / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
In India's Similipal Tiger Reserve lives an unusual tiger known as T12. It has extremely wide stripes, which makes its coloring more black with reddish stripes than reddish with black stripes. Such stripes are formed due to a rare mutation – pseudomelanism. Once the only male in the reserve, he has now fathered a new generation.
Into the Furnace, by Mogens Trolle (Denmark)
Photo: Mogens Trolle / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
In Kaeng Krachan National Park in southern Thailand, a Malayan sun bear hid from the rain in a rusty furnace. It briefly peered out, and a butterfly landed on its nose. These bears are increasingly appearing near tourist camps in search of food.
Portrait of Extinction, by Adam Oswell (Australia)
Photo: Adam Oswell / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Rangers guard a mountain of confiscated traps and snares in Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda). This enormous pile was collected in just one year.
Uniqueness, by Daniela Anger (Germany)
Photo: Daniela Anger / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
This otter, which caught a fish in Brazil's southern Pantanal, possibly has leucism: a mutation that causes partial loss of pigmentation. This makes it more noticeable and vulnerable, but so far it has been lucky.
Above and Below, by Charles Davis (Australia)
Photo: Charles Davis / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A camera trap in Tasmania, set up for hunting quolls (marsupial carnivores), captured a female and baby possum. The baby, playing, mimicked every movement of its mother.
Swirling Superpod, by Cecile Gabillon (France)
Photo: Cecile Gabillon / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
While freediving off the coast of Costa Rica, the photographer found herself amidst a huge superpod of long-beaked dolphins herding fish. Such phenomena are becoming increasingly rare due to overfishing and ocean pollution.
Beak-to-Beak, by Ponlawat Thaipinnarong (Thailand)
Photo: Ponlawat Thaipinnarong / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
In the rice fields of Buriram province (Thailand), the photographer observed an Indian Sarus crane gently preening the feathers of its newborn chick.
Marvellous Spatuletail, by Dustin Chen (UK)
Photo: Dustin Chen / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The Huembo Lodge Reserve in Peru is a place to observe Marvelous Spatuletails (also known as Ladigesia mirabilis). This male hummingbird fanned its tail: they usually do this to attract females. The habitat of these birds is now shrinking due to human activity, and they live only in a small area in the Northern Andes region.
A Fleeting Moment, by Lior Berman (Costa Rica)
Photo: Lior Berman / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo in Costa Rica caught a cicada trying to escape from a group of nomadic ants. This iridescent bird is an elusive and very fast predator, difficult to spot and even harder to photograph.
A Leap into Adulthood, by Peter Lindel (Germany)
Photo: Peter Lindel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
From his living room window in Dortmund, Lindel watched young kestrels hesitant to jump from their nest to a beam only 80 cm below. It took them almost a week to dare to jump, another week to explore the surrounding space, and then they left the spot.
Solar Waves, by Francesco Russo (UK/Italy)
Photo: Francesco Russo / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Rows of solar panels line the edges of a pasture near a village in Cambridge. Britain is striving for "green" energy, and in the near future, there will be even more such solar farms. But local residents are sometimes unhappy with them.
Precious Cargo, by Thomas Hunt (UK)
Photo: Thomas Hunt / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
In his sister's room in Southampton, Thomas found a female daddy long-legs spider carrying an egg sac in her jaws. He moved the spider to the garage, where she guarded the eggs for weeks until tiny spiderlings hatched from them.
Couple's Camouflage, by Artur Tomaszek (Poland)
Photo: Artur Tomaszek / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
This pair of spiders was spotted on a tree in Khao Phra Thaeo National Park in Thailand. The male, several times smaller than the female, waits for her to molt to mate, attaching himself to her abdomen. The photographer found their web at night, and then during the day he had to spend some time looking for the spiders, which camouflage themselves against the tree bark.
Bond in Motion, by Lalith Ekanayake (Sri Lanka)
Photo: Lalith Ekanayake / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The lion-tailed macaque is among the most endangered macaques. They live in small, fragmented populations as human activity gradually destroys their habitat. This monkey with its baby was photographed in the Western Ghats in India.
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