Wildlife photographer of the year: Nuzzling lions take pride of place in international competition

The Natural History Museum reveals the most popular nature photographs of 2018

Wednesday 13 February 2019 15:01 GMT

Wildlife photographer of the year

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1/26Wildlife photographer of the year

Wildlife photographer of the year

A polar bear's struggle - Highly Commended

Justin’s whole body pained as he watched this starving polar bear at an abandoned hunter's camp, in the Canadian Arctic, slowly heave itself up to standing. With little, and thinning, ice to move around on, the bear is unable to search for food.

Justin Hofman / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Curious Encounter - Shortlisted

Cristobal Serrano, Spain. Any close encounter with an animal in the vast wilderness of Antarctica happens by chance, so Cristobal was thrilled by this spontaneous meeting with a crabeater seal off of Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula. These curious creatures are protected and, with few predators, thrive.

Cristobal Serrano / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Bond of brothers - Winner

David Lloyd, New Zealand / UK. These two adult males, probably brothers, greeted and rubbed faces for 30 seconds before settling down. Most people never have the opportunity to witness such animal sentience, and David was honoured to have experienced and captured such a moment.The picture was taken in Ndutu, Serengeti, Tanzania.

David Lloyd / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Fox meets fox - Highly Commended

Matthew Maran, UK. Matthew has been photographing foxes close to his home in north London for over a year and ever since spotting this street art had dreamt of capturing this image. After countless hours and many failed attempts his persistence paid off.

Matthew Maran / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Three Kings - Highly Commended

Wim Van Den Heever, South Africa. Wim came across these king penguins on a beach in the Falkland Islands just as the sun was rising. They were caught up in a fascinating mating behaviour –the two males were constantly moving around the female using their flippers to fend the other off.

Wim Van Den Heever / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

One toy, three dogs - Highly Commended

Bence Mate, Hungary. While adult African wild dogs are merciless killers, their pups are extremely cute and play all day long. Bence photographed these brothers in Mkuze, South Africa –they all wanted to play with the leg of an impala and were trying to drag it in three different directions!

Bence Mate / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Clam Close-up - Shortlisted

David Barrio, Spain. This macro-shot of an iridescent clam was taken in the Southern Red Sea, Marsa Alam, Egypt. These clams spend their lives embedded amongst stony corals, where they nest and grow. It took David some time to approach the clam, fearing it would sense his movements and snap shut!

David Barrio / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

The Orphaned Beaver - Shortlisted

Suzi Eszterhas, United States. A one-month-old orphaned North American beaver kit is held by a caretaker at the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington, Washington. Luckily it was paired with a female beaver who took on the role of mother and they were later released into the wild.

Suzi Eszterhas / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Ice and Water - Shortlisted

Audun Lie Dahl, Norway. The Bråsvellbreen glacier moves southwards from one of the ice caps covering the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. Where it meets the sea, the glacier wall is so high that only the waterfalls are visible, so Audun used a drone to capture this unique perspective

Audun Lie Dahl / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Teenager - Shortlisted

Franco Banfi, Switzerland. Franco was free diving off Dominica in the Caribbean Sea when he witnessed this young male sperm whale trying to copulate with a female. Unfortunately for him her calf was always in the way and the frisky male had to continually chase off the troublesome calf.

Franco Banfi / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Resting Mountain Gorilla - Shortlisted

David Lloyd. The baby gorilla clung to its mother whilst keeping a curious eye on David. He had been trekking in South Bwindi, Uganda, whenhe came across the whole family. Following them, they then stopped in a small clearing to relax and groom each other.

David Lloyd / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Painted Waterfall - Shorltisted

Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal, Spain. When the sun beams through a hole in the rock at the foot of the La Foradada waterfall, Catalonia, Spain, it creates a beautiful pool of light. The rays appear to paint the spray of the waterfall and create a truly magical picture.

Eduardo Blanco Mendizabal / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

The Extraction - Shortlisted

Konstantin Shatenev, Russia. Every winter, hundreds of Steller's sea eagles migrate from Russia, to the relatively ice-free northeastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan. They hunt for fish among the ices floes and also scavenge, following the fishing boats to feed on any discards. Konstantin took his image from a boat as the eagles retrieved a dead fish thrown onto the ice.

Konstantin Shatenev / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Shy - Shortlisted

Pedro Carrillo, Spain. The mesmerizing pattern of a beaded sand anemone beautifully frames a juvenile Clarkii clownfish in Lembehstrait, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Known as a 'nursery' anemone, it is often a temporary home for young clownfish until they find a more suitable host anemone for adulthood.

Pedro Carrillo / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Red, Silver and Black - Shortlisted

TinMan Lee, USA. Tin was fortunate enough to be told about a fox den in Washington State, North America, which was home to a family of red, black and silver foxes. After days of waiting for good weather he was finally rewarded with this touching moment.

Tin Man Lee / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Isolated - Shortlisted

Anna Henly, UK. Snapped from a helicopter, this isolated tree stands in a cultivated field on the edge of a tropical forest on Kauai, Hawaii. The manmade straight lines of the ploughed furrows are interrupted beautifully by nature’s more unruly wild pattern of tree branches.

Anna Henly / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Sound Asleep - Shortlisted

Tony Wu, USA. This adult humpback whale balanced in mid-water, headon and sound asleep was photographed in Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga. The faint stream of bubbles, visible at the top, is coming from the whale’s two blowholes and was, in this instance, indicative of an extremely relaxed state.

Tony Wu / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

All That Remains - Shortlisted

Phil Jones, UK. A male orca had beached itself about a week before Phil’s visit to Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands. Despite its huge size the shifting sands had almost covered the whole carcass and scavengers, such as this striated caracara, had started to move in.

Phil Jones / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Ambush - Shortlisted

Federico Veronesi, Kenya. On a hot morning at the Chitake Springs, in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, Federico watched as an old lioness descended from the top of the riverbank. She’d been lying in wait to ambush any passing animals visiting a nearby waterhole further along the riverbed.

Federico Veronesi / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Gliding - Shortlisted

Christian Vizl, Mexico. With conditions of perfect visibility and beautiful sunlight, Christian took this portrait of a nurse shark gliding through the ocean off the coast of Bimini in the Bahamas. Typically these sharks are found near sandy bottoms where they rest, so it’s rare to see them swimming.

Christian Vizl / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Otherworldly - Shortlisted

A school of Munk's devil ray were feeding on plankton at night off the coast of Isla Espíritu Santo in Baja California, Mexico. Franco used the underwater lights from his boat and a long exposure to create this otherworldly image.

Franco Banfi / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

The Bat’s Wake - Shortlisted

Antonio Leiva Sanchez, Spain. After several months of field research into a little colony of greater mouse-eared bats in Sucs, Lleida, Spain, Antonio managed to capture this bat mid-flight. He used a technique of high speed photography with flashes combined with continuous light to create the ‘wake’.

Antonio Leiva Sanchez / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Under the Snow - Shortlisted

Audren Morel, France. Unafraid of the snowy blizzard, this squirrel came to visit Audren as he was taking photographs of birds in the small Jura village of Les Fourgs, France. Impressed by the squirrel’s endurance, he made it the subject of the shoot.

Audren Morel / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Unique Bill - Shortlisted

Rob Blanken, The Netherlands. The pied avocet has a unique and delicate bill, which it sweeps like a scythe, as it sifts for food in shallow brackish water. This stunning portrait was taken from a hide in the northern province of Friesland in The Netherlands.

Rob Blanken / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

Family Portrait - Shortlisted

Connor Stefanison, Canada. A great grey owl and her chicks sit in their nest in the broken top of a Douglas fir tree in Kamloops, Canada. They looked towards Connor only twice as he watched them during the nesting season from a tree hide 50 feet (15 metres) up.

Connor Stefanison / Natural History Museum

Wildlife photographer of the year

A dog jumps to catch a disc during a dog frisbee competition in Poznan

via REUTERS

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Louise Thomas

Louise Thomas

Editor

An image of a tender moment between two lions is the winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year LUMIX People's Choice Award 2018. David Lloyd's photo depicting two male lions, thought to be brothers, nuzzling together has taken the top spot in a contest of 25 nature images with 16,000 people voting for their favourite.

The shortlist was wittled down from over 45,000 photos by the Natural History Musuem, who are exhibiting the final 25 until June 30.

Lloyd says of his win: "I’m so pleased that this image did well because it illustrates the emotion and feeling of animals and emphasises that this is not limited to humans. It is something I think more people need to be aware of for the sake of all animals."

In addition to the winner, the Natural History Museum has revealed four 'Highly Commended' images that only just missed the top spot. There is great variety in the photos, featuring animals from all over the earth in natural and urban habitats.

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