There are a number of stunning photos that were shortlisted for the top wildlife photography awards. These include a California humpback, eagle and fox fighting in Japan.
The humpback whale performed the stunt for snapper Douglas Croft in California’s Monterey Bay as it breached the water meters from a fisherman’s boat, towering above another boat as it leapt out the sea.
John Fortener, a 14-year old bird enthusiast and photographer, captured another picture of the beautiful snowy Owl flying toward John Fortener’s camera while sitting in his mom’s car.
As a golden-snub-nosed monkey, he was captured clinging on to his mother in China while she balanced on a branch.
A baby elephant was also featured in the ‘fortress with mighty legs’ as the herd marched to a Kenyan sunrise. To protect their young, elephants place them in the middle or the group.
A group of flamingos were also pictured flying in a helicopter over Kenya’s lake, where the sun reflects off the saline expanse mineral, creating swirls. Japan: A red fox and an eagle were pictured fighting off each other. The snow behind the duo was contrasted with the image.
Over 40,000 photos were submitted to the National Wildlife Magazine’s Photo Contest. Grand Prize winner in the contest of 2021 was an endangered orangutan who escaped from the flooded forest floor. It highlighted the detrimental effects that deforestation can have on wildlife.
Thomas Vijayan took the stunning snap. It shows a male Orangutan climbing up the tree, from the flooded forest floor, that mirrors the sky in Borneo.
Every entry was part a larger effort to save wildlife species and protect their habitats.
California’s Monterey Bay is home to a massive humpback whale that breaches the water from a boat’s side. A photographer on another boat was able take this stunning shot of the whale rising above the boat.
The male orangutan, a male, climbs up the tree and away from the flood forest below. The clear water below reflects the sky in Borneo, Indonesia. This forest area is reserved to help protect endangered primates whose habitats are being demolished for palm oil plantations.
The frozen shores off Hokkaido Island are home to a photo of a white Eagle fighting an aggressive red Fox that tried to grab some of its food. This is because there’s often conflict between food producers and consumers in this region.
A young, golden snub-nosed monkey clings to its more sure-footed mother as she makes her way through the tree branches is China’s Qinling Mountains. As she looks up, she is preparing for the leap to next branch.
Two North American bighorn rams, both natives of North America, smack their heads together in an ancient dance of dominance. As the two rams came together in close-to-perfect harmony, the photographer caught it all.
An early morning scene in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve shows a group of elephants moving towards the Musiara Marsh for a morning feast, with a small baby elephant trotting amongst the herd, that surrounds its young for protection
This picture, taken by 14-year-old John Fortener in Missaukee County, Michigan, captures the moment a stunning snowy owl took flight towards him as he photographed the bird in a field
A crab-eating macaques live Lopburi, Thailand climbs along the top of a rusty fence as a gust of wind picks up a piece of old newspaper, which flies into the money’s face for a fleeting moment, captured in this photograph. Some 4,500 of the animals live in Lopburi, and early in the pandemic became a nuisance to the locals when food – usually supplied by tourists – dried up
This larval blanket octopus is only about the size of a golf ball, and the photographer was using nothing but a small handheld torch to search out small sea creatures about 30 feet below the surface in Anilao in the Philippines
A green bottle fly lands on the remains of a groundhog, likely killed by a car in Sainte-Adèle, Québec, Canada
This photograph was captured by 16-year-old photographer Addie Leimroth, while he was searching in the Arizona desert for snakes. he found this snake, a gopher snake, wound within the spines of an ocotillo plant
Leaving a weave of footprints in the snow behind them, a group of Tibetan antelopes walk up the slope of a sand dune in China’s harsh, high-elevation Kumukuli Desert, known to many as being a ‘no-man’s land’
A graceful flock of flamingos fly in formation above Kenya’s Lake Magadi, a saline expanse whose minerals catch the sunlight, forming swirls across the water. The image was taken by the photographer in a helicopter.
A sea anemone shines like a jewel surrounded by colorful pebbles in a tide pool on Bates Beach in central California
This photograph from St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida shows a wild roseate spoonbill nesting near a walkway, that allowed the photographer to get up close and take this picture as the perfect light came over it. It captures the many colors of the bird’s feathers.
The photographer behind this image stopped t take in the view and build a small snowman on a ridgeline in Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park. The raven, perhaps thinking that it was food for him, flew down and inspected the snowman.
Four of the above photos were taken from the National Wildlife Photo Contest series. The photographer began visiting public gardens during the coronavirus lockdown, and captures this series of macro images showing pollinators, such as bees (top three) and a Sphecid wasp (bottom)
This landscape shot of Kauai, Hawaii won the Landscapes & Plants category of the competition. The photographer described the conditions over the iconic Na Pali Coast as ‘once in a lifetime’, with a passing storm and sunset creating incredible light