A rare photo of a Siberian tiger hugging an ancient Manchurian fir tree wins the Wildlife Photography Award 2020

• Russian photographer Sergey Gorshkov took almost a year to capture the image through hidden cameras.
  
• The winning image, called “the embrace”, features an endangered Siberian tiger or Amur.
  
• This species can be found only in Russia’s deep forest and is on the verge of extinction.
  

An exquisite image of a Siberian female tiger hugging an ancient Manchurian fir tree in the deep forest of Russian Far East has won the world’s most prestigious photography award of the year. Russian photographer Sergey Gorshkov took almost a year to capture the image through hidden cameras.

The image was selected from over 49,000 entries. Judges believe the photo offers “a scene like no other” and is “a unique glimpse of an intimate moment deep in a magical forest.”



“Shafts of low winter sun highlight the ancient fir tree and the coat of the huge tigress as she grips the trunk in obvious ecstasy and inhales the scent of the tiger on resin, leaving her own mark as her message,” said Rosamond Kidman Cox, chairperson of the judging panel, said Cox, describing the image.

The animal in the image, called “the embrace,” is a Siberian tiger or Amur. The species can be found only in Russia’s deep forest and is on the verge of extinction. There are less than 600 of Siberian tigers left in the wild — that too after higher protection and strict policies.

When Gorshkov set up his camera in January 2019, he had a fair idea that chances of capturing such a rare animal are slim. However, he was determined and searched the Leopard National Park for hair, scratches, scent marks which may hint at its existence. He installed hidden cameras opposite to a Manchurian fir tree.

“The remarkable sight of the tigress immersed in her natural environment offers us hope, as recent reports suggest numbers are growing from dedicated conservation effort, “Dr Tim Littlewood, the Natural History Museum’s executive director of science and a member of the judging panel, said.

Other winners include thirteen-year-old Liina Heikkinen of Finland which won Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Kirsten Luce for her single photojournalism image of a captive polar bear performing circus.

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