‘When great science and great art combine, amazing things can be achieved. That’s the philosophy behind the World Nature Photography Awards, a global nature and wildlife photography contest for planet Earth,’ reads the World Nature Photography Awards’ website.
‘We believe in the power of photography to put a spotlight on the majesty and wonder of the natural world around us, reminding us to take action now to secure a better tomorrow for us all.’
Selected from entries around the globe and put into 13 categories, here are the winners of the World Nature Photography Awards in 2021.
Overall winner and winner of category: Behaviour – Mammals
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A leopard seal hunting a gentoo penguin off the Antarctic Peninsula
Gold winner: Amos Nachoum, USA.
Amos also won the World Nature Photographer of the Year. To take this photo, Amos waited for low tide in a shallow lagoon. A leopard seal arrived just before low tide and put his head underwater. When low tide hit, the gentoo penguins joined the shallow water. When they were close enough, the leopard seal attacked one of the penguins. He let go of the penguin twice before killing it.
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Animal portraits
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A pair of sleeping long-tailed macaques in Bali, Indonesia
Gold winner: Tom Vierus, Fiji.
Behaviour – Amphibians and reptiles
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A Pacific tree frog on a flower
Gold winner: Shayne Kaye, Canada.
Behaviour – Birds
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An African vulture eats a wildebeest carcass while an African fox waits for its turn
Gold winner: Ashok Behera, India.
Behaviour – Invertebrates
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Common red ants make a bridge so that other ants can cross the water
Gold winner: Chin Leong Teo, Singapore.
Nature art
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Tuscany, Italy
Gold winner: Federico Testi, Italy.
People and nature
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An ice cave on Lake Baikal in Russia that was fully-frozen
Gold winner: Sabrina Inderbitzi, Switzerland.
Plants and fungi
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An abandoned house that was taken over by nature in Goa, India
Gold winner: Gautam Kamat Bambolkar, India.
Urban wildlife
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A humpback’s fluke off the coast of New York
Gold winner: Matthijs Noome, USA.
Planet Earth’s landscapes and environments
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South Island, New Zealand
Gold winner: Sam Wilson, Australia.
Black and white
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Rare Arctic fox walking in the snow in Iceland
Gold winner: Vince Burton, United Kingdom.
Animals in their habitat
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Male orangutan
Gold winner: Thomas Vijayan, Canada.
Nature photojournalism
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Female orangutan before surgery in Indonesia. She was rescued from a villager who kept her as a pet
Gold winner: Alain Schroeder, Belgium.
To enter the 2022 competition, click here. The competition closes on 30 June 2022 and the winners will be announced in February 2023.
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