A World of Wildlife: Cast Your Vote

Every year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition inspires us with breathtaking glimpses of the natural world. Out of nearly 60,000 submissions, only a few can claim the spotlight, but now you have the chance to make your voice heard. The Natural History Museum has chosen 25 incredible photographs for their People’s Choice Award, and we’re featuring 10 of our favorites right here.

Explore these awe-inspiring moments from around the globe, then head to the Natural History Museum website to cast your vote before Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at 14:00 GMT. Your choice could crown the winner!

A bloodied yet determined honey badger returns to finish off a Cape porcupine, which earlier had tried to defend itself.

Found throughout Botswana, honey badgers are famously ferocious. They often chase animals many times their own size.

This honey badger got an unpleasant surprise when it attacked the normally nocturnal Cape porcupine.

The badger grabbed the porcupine’s right leg. In defence, the porcupine repeatedly backed into its attacker, piercing it with many quills.

During a lull in the attack, the porcupine managed to shuffle away, its leg badly damaged.

After a short retreat, the bloodied badger returned. It finished off the porcupine under a bush close to the original attack then dragged it into its underground den.

A ghostly barn owl exits the hayloft window of a derelict barn to hunt in fields outside Vancouver, Canada.

Jess quietly watched the owl for several nights to understand its habits.

He set up an invisible beam that would trigger a flash when the owl flew out of the barn. Simultaneously, a slow shutter speed gathered ambient light cast on the clouds and barn.

On the tenth night, all the moving parts came together as the owl left to begin its hunt.

A stoat sits up and observes its territory as it blends perfectly into a snowy landscape in Belgium.

Michel had been looking for stoats in the snow for many years.

The magic of snowfall fascinates Michel every winter. He wanted to take a photograph that showed how the stoats blend in with the whiteness of the landscape.

He’d seen a few in Switzerland but never in his native Belgium. Then, finally his dream came true.

He lay in the snow with a white camouflage net covering all but his lens.

This curious stoat came out of its snowy hole and sat up from time to time, observing its territory just before setting off to hunt.

A polar bear cub attempts an underwater surprise attack on a northern fulmar.

In the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, a walrus carcass had attracted a female polar bear and her two cubs.

But one of the cubs was more interested in playing in the water than eating.

The cub was having fun diving under the water and resurfacing, playing with the seaweed and kelp.

The northern fulmar resting on the surface of the water awakened the cub’s desire to hunt.

Erlend watched as it attempted several underwater surprise attacks on the bird, only to fail each time.

Play hunting like this is essential learning for a young bear. Eventually it will have to survive in the Arctic without its mother.

A puma stands on a windswept outcrop in the rugged mountain terrain of Torres del Paine National Park, Chile.

It is a symbol of hope. A successful conservation movement led to the creation of the national park and a rise in ecotourism in the region.

This has also helped to reduce conflict between pumas and local gauchos (sheep farmers). The gauchos view pumas more positively because they’re attracting tourists, which is good for income.

The introduction of sheepdogs has also helped. The dogs confront any approaching pumas and stop them attacking the sheep. In turn, the pumas hunt their natural prey, and the gauchos are less likely to shoot them.

The change has been gradual but has gained momentum over the past 20 to 30 years. There is hope that humans and pumas can live alongside one another.

Members of an Indian wolf pack pause briefly as they play in fields in Bhigwan, India.

Indian wolves were once found all across India. Now, their number has dwindled to as few as 3,000.

Living so close to humans poses many risks. Farming has fragmented their rolling grassland habitat, and feeding on cattle carcasses puts them at risk of disease.

But Indian wolves are hardy animals. With better grassland management and protection, they could make a strong comeback.

Arvind was photographing this pack playing in the grassy fields. One of them came and sat down at the edge of the agricultural crop, and one by one four others joined it.

They paused for a few seconds before they ran off again, playing and chasing one another.

A European roller defends its territory from a bemused-looking little owl in Kiskunság National Park, Hungary.

The little owl and the European roller are very different birds, but their nests and feeding requirements are similar. This means they sometimes breed near each other.

The male roller makes a sport of annoying other birds that stray into its breeding area during the short mating season. It makes a surprise ambush, flying at full speed behind them.

To catch such a fleeting scene, Bence spent 27 days watching from a hide.

The little owl seemed nonplussed by the spectacle.

Four grey wolves cross a minimalist landscape of naked aspens and snow in Yellowstone National Park, USA.

It was early spring in the Lamar Valley, and this pack was in search of its next meal.

Watching from a distance, Devon saw them heading towards this patch of aspens and thought it would make a compelling image.

The wolves walked right past these trees and then continued to follow the tree line, eventually disappearing over the hillside.

A beluga whale rubs its underside on a shallow river bottom to exfoliate its skin.

Mark took this image in a remote inlet along the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic.

Hundreds of beluga whales come here to socialise and exfoliate in the shallow water. The passage is also a safe haven, away from the predatory orcas.

Belugas are extremely sociable mammals. They live, hunt and migrate together in pods that can range from quite small into the hundreds.

Nicknamed ‘the canaries of the sea’, they produce a series of chirps, clicks, whistles and squeals that Mark found otherworldly.

A beaver cocks its tail before slapping it down on the water to alert its family to a newcomer.

Savannah enjoys photographing North American beavers in this pond in Jackson, Wyoming, USA.

As she approached the shoreline, a beaver cruised cautiously by after emerging from its lodge. It cocked its tail up and brought it down with a resounding crack.

Savannah had been trying to document this dramatic beaver behaviour for years.

Beavers use tail smacks to alert their family group to a newcomer. Despite the theatrics, beavers usually relax quickly after realising that the newcomer doesn’t pose a threat.

Three Previous Winners

Larry Taylor (USA) shows an ermine clambering between rocks, with its white fur framed by the black crevice.

Larry saw a flash of white against a canyon in Yellowstone National Park. It was an ermine pursuing prey, “rocketing up the crack in the cliff wall with incredible speed, darting in and out of the shadows”.

Larry watched as the ermine leapt towards a bushy-tailed woodrat but missed its mark and fell into the snow. Unperturbed, it raced back up the rock wall to try again.

Ermines need to feed many times a day in winter as they don’t build large fat stores like other mammals do. Intelligent and versatile hunters, they will eat a variety of rodents, rabbits, frogs, birds and eggs.

Ian Ford (UK) documents the moment a jaguar bites and kills a caiman in the Pantanal.

A call over the radio alerted Ian that a jaguar had been spotted prowling the banks of a São Lourenço River tributary in the Pantanal. It took 30 minutes by boat to arrive at the location, but the timing turned out to be perfect.

Kneeling in the boat, he was perfectly placed when the cat delivered the skull-crushing bite to the unsuspecting yacare caiman.

The South American Pantanal wetland supports the highest density of jaguars anywhere in the world. Jaguars are usually solitary, but prey is abundant in this area and there is no need to compete for food. As a result, the big cats have been seen fishing, travelling and playing together.

Daniel was mesmerised by the movements of the starlings as they formed colossal organic shapes in the sky.

Each day, as they returned from foraging, they would gather in large numbers and perform spellbinding aerial shows, known as murmurations, on their flight home to their communal roosts. In a bid to locate the best roosting sites at which to capture the spectacle, Daniel spent hours following the starlings around the city and suburbs of Rome. Finally, on this cloudless winter’s day, the flock didn’t disappoint, swirling into the shape of a giant bird.

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