Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award Winners Showcase Funny and Stunning Side of Nature

Photo: Yongqing Bao

wildlife photographer of the year

London’s Natural History Museumhas just concluded its annual photography event, where the museum seeks out the world’s best wildlife photography to fill an exhibition at the beloved cultural institution.

The grand prize winner of the museum’sWildlife Photographer of the Year competition for 2019is Yongqing Bao, who beat out 48,000 other entries from over 100 countries with his photo of a Tibetan fox pouncing on a shocked Himalayan marmot in China’s Qilian Mountains

“Photographically, it is quite simply the perfect moment. The expressive intensity of the postures holds you transfixed, and the thread of energy between the raised paws seems to hold the protagonists in perfect balance,” Roz Kidman Cox, the chair of the competition’s judging panel,said in a statementabout the “extraordinary” winning photo.

According to the museum, the wolf in the shot is a female, hunting in the rugged area to provide for her three pups. Little is known about the Tibetan wolf, since the species lives in the high, isolated areas of the Tibetan and Ladakh plateaus. For Bao to get such a striking shot of the elusive creature at the world’s “Third Pole” is impressive.

Bao, who was born and raised in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau area, has evolved as a photographer over the years, and is now focused on showing “that wild animals are indispensable friends to humans” through his role as director and chief ecological photographer of the Qilian Mountain Nature Conservation Association of China.

While Bao’s photo claimed the top prize, the competition has other categories (including Animal Portraits and Urban Wildlife), each with their own winner. Take a look at some of the other winners below, and get a complete look at all the best photos from the competition at theevent’s websiteor see the competition’s 100 best photos in personat the exhibit that opens at the Natural History Museum on Oct. 18.

Cruz Erdmann

wildlife photographer of the year