...That Polar Bear in the Window: Unusual wildlife encounters that'll make you go wow
The wild is full of surprises. The next 12 photographs are proof. These stunning images are some of the best from the world-renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Winners will be announced on 11 October
)
Polar Frame: An otherworldly encounter of polar bears taking over an abandoned settlement. When Dmitry’s boat approached the small island of Kolyuchin, in the Russian High Arctic, which had been abandoned by humans since 1992, he was surprised to spot movement in one of the houses. Binoculars revealed polar bears – over 20 in total – exploring the ghost town. Dmitry used a low-noise drone to document the surreal experience. Image Courtesy: Dmitry Kokh/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Treefrog pool party: Güell waded chest-deep into murky water in the Osa peninsula where a gathering of male gliding treefrogs were calling. At dawn thousands of females arrived at the pool to mate and lay their eggs on overhanging palm fronds. Here, unmated males search for females to mate with. Image Courtesy: Brandon Güell/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The snow stag: Joshua Cox frames a red deer stag standing majestically as the snow falls. It had just started to snow when Joshua and his father arrived in Richmond Park. They followed the deer at a safe distance when suddenly the snow intensified and one of the stags stopped. ‘He almost looked as if he was having a snow shower,’ says Joshua. Image Courtesy: Joshua Cox/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The right look: Richard Robinson becomes the object of fascination for a young whale. With the whale investigating him, Richard’s main challenge was to swim far enough from the curious calf to photograph it. The encounter lasted 30 minutes, with the whale circling him, swimming off, then returning for another look. Image Courtesy: Richard Robinson/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Burrow mates: Morgan Heim reveals an intimate encounter between a beetle and a rabbit. Morgan set up camera traps by the active burrows of pygmy rabbits in the Columbia Basin to observe their comings and goings. She was delighted by this moment of interaction as one of the rabbits sniffed at a stink beetle that had been sheltering in its burrow. Image Courtesy: Morgan Heim/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The octopus case: Samuel Sloss is spotted by a coconut octopus, which peeks out from its clam-shell shelter. Samuel was muck diving when he noticed this octopus. He lowered the power of his strobe lamp so as not to distress it. The octopus shut the lid of the shell when Samuel approached, but then slowly opened it, revealing colours and coils. Image Courtesy: Samuel Sloss/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Sloth dilemma: Suzi Eszterhas captures an encounter between a sloth and a dog. The brown-throated sloth had already made it across a road, but to reach the next clump of trees it needed to return to the ground and crawl. Meeting a big dog, it froze. Suzi watched fearfully but the dog, having taken part in a sloth-safety training programme with Sloth Conservation Foundation, simply sniffed it. Image Courtesy: Suzi Eszterhas/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Just one day’s catch: Srikanth Mannepuri takes a sobering look at the scale of unsustainable fishing. Srikanth was shocked to see so many recently caught marlin and sailfish in a single place in one morning. To demonstrate the scale of the fish market, he used a drone to take the image from a bird’s-eye view. Image Courtesy: Srikanth Mannepuri/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Underwater wonderland: Tiina Törmänen floats through sheets of cloud-like algae in search of fish. Tiina was thrilled to meet a school of inquisitive European perch on her annual lake snorkel. During the previous three years she had only ever found dead fish. Submerged in the surreal scene, she framed the orange-finned fish flying through clouds of pink-tinged algae. Image Courtesy: Tiina Törmänen/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Life and death in fur farming: Jo-Anne McArthur shows American mink kits fighting for space in a small cage on a fur farm. For Jo-Anne, it is important to document cruelty in order to instigate change. At a Swedish mink farm, the sign above a cramped, inhospitable cage indicates two kits have died. Due to legislation changes since this photo was taken, farms now have slightly larger cages, but the standard of life remains poor. Image Courtesy: Jo-Anne McArthur/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The disappearing giraffe: Jose Fragozo captures the contrast between the natural world and human infrastructure. Keeping his camera steady in the moving vehicle, Jose followed the giraffe. Dwarfed by the giant pillars of Kenya’s new Standard Gauge Railway, the grey blocks contrast with the unmistakable pattern of nature’s tallest land mammal. Image Courtesy: Jose Fragozo/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The bonobo and the mongoose: Christian Ziegler records this unusual sight of a young male bonobo gently holding a mongoose pup, deep in the rainforest. Christian was tracking a group of these endangered great apes that are being studied by Barbara Fruth of the Max-Planck Society. He recalls setting out ‘before light’, wading ‘chest-deep through flooded forest’, and frequently walking 20 kilometres (12 miles) a day. ‘The bonobo held and stroked the little mongoose for more than an hour.’ Image Courtesy: Christian Ziegler/Wildlife Photographer of the Year