A chest-beating gorilla, a black panther and more: This is wildlife at its very, very best
Nature can truly take your breath away and these images prove it. Below are some of the winners of the Nature Photographer of the Year (NPOTY) contest, which celebrates the ‘joy of nature’s beauty’.
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This striking photograph of a wild silverback gorilla named Chimanuka won the prize in the Mammals category. The image was taken in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the DR Congo. Recalling the image, the photographer says, “After about two hours of hard walking in the dense jungle, we arrived together with the National Park Rangers in the later morning. The females were eating in the bushes out of the sight of Chimanuka. Suddenly he came out of the bush about 5 metres in front of me, drumming on his breast and showing his impressive behaviour. I was frightened and fell back in a bush. While falling I took the picture, so it is blurred because of the movement. Chimanuka stopped in front of our group and nothing happened. Then he turned off and climbed up a tree for a better view on his females and children.” Image Courtesy: Sepp Friedhuber/2021 NPOTY photo contest
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Titled ‘Winter Migration’ this image won in the birds category and was the overall winner. Thousands of Pink-footed Geese were captured stopping in the Trondheimfjord wetland system on their way ‘between the wintering grounds in Denmark and Netherlands and the breeding grounds in Spitsbergen’. These particular birds were captured during a period of heavy snowfall in late April 2020. Image Courtesy: Terje Kolaas/2021 NPOTY photo contest
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This young wolf was caught on camera in a forest in his native Estonia. The photographer had learned that there was a wolf’s litter in the area, and decided to set up a camera trap in a nearby beaver dam, hoping that the wolves would appear to hunt for the beavers. It took around six to seven months to capture this picture. Image Courtesy: Aare Udras/2021 NPOTY photo contest
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An eruption of Klyuchevskoy, the highest and most active volcano in the Kamchatka natural park in Russia and part of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka UNESCO World Heritage Site won in the Landscape category. The lenticular cloud above the top of the volcano, illuminated by hot lava, creates the impression that a fire-breathing dragon is sitting on the top under the clouds. Image Courtesy: Denis Budkov/NPOTY photo contest 2021
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A female African elephant has died of natural causes, mainly old age. A pride of lions have found her and enjoyed the big feast. Suddenly, a young lioness, only 7 months old, came to the elephant and started working her way around her, moving between the elephant’s front legs, in a way that resembles a hug. Image Courtesy: Roie Galitz/2021 NPOTY photo contest
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The Fred Hazelhoff Portfolio Award went to US photographer Lea Lee Inoue for her ‘Emotional Range’ series, which follows a family of round-tailed ground squirrels at the base of the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. Inoue first noticed the family when she moved to the area ‘several years back’. Image Courtesy: Lea Lee Inoue/2021 NPOTY photo contest
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A stunning image of a Black panther in Kenya’s Laikipia County. This image took several months of perseverance and many near misses. Image Courtesy: William Burrard-Lucas/2021 NPOTY photo contest
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Photographing pygmy seahorses is an extremely difficult business. They are very small; rarely larger than 2 centimetres. But above all, they are very well camouflaged and difficult to find in the gorgonians in which they live. Image Courtesy: Georg Nies/NPOTY photo contest 2021
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Taken in the Red Sea (Egypt), this image shows many people trying to swim with a whale shark, the largest fish in the world. Talking of the image, the photographer said, “When our boat returned to the port of Hurghada at the end of the day after diving, near the shore we noticed another boat, and saw people jumping into the water. They usually don’t swim in this part of the sea, because boat traffic can be dangerous. We went closer to see if the other boat needed help, when we got closer to the other boat, we saw people trying to swim with this huge peaceful giant.” Image Courtesy: László Földi/2021 NPOTY photo contest
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Cloudberries are a circumpolar boreal plant, occurring naturally throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In Europe, they grow mostly in the Nordic countries where they are a highly regarded delicacy, often termed the eatable Arctic gold. Image Courtesy: Audun Rikardsen/2021 NPOTY photo contest
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