The year's best wildlife photos reveal a super-chill monkey, a rare Siberian tiger, and an ant clinging to a beetle's leg

Susie NeilsonOct 17, 2020, 18:25 IST

A Siberian tiger hugs a Manchurian fir, rubbing her cheek against bark to leave her scent in Russia's Land of the Leopard National Park.Sergey Gorshkov/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The London Natural History Museum's annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition awards photographers who highlight the fragility of Earth's wildlife.
This year, the contest drew over 49,000 entries from photographers in 25 countries.
The winning images, announced this week, show a serene proboscis monkey, an iridescent squid, and a clownfish with a parasite for a tongue.

Sergey Gorshkov was determined to find a Siberian tiger. He knew it wouldn't be easy. The species is known to live only in sections of Russia and China and was hunted almost to extinction in the 20th century. In the wild, only about 540 of the tigers remain, and they're spread across vast territories.

So Gorshkov, a photographer based in Russia, roamed the country's 1,000-plus-square-mile Land of the Leopard National Park, scouring the forest for any signs of tigers – hair, scratch marks, urine.

In January 2019, he hung a camera across from a grand fir tree in an area he believed tigers had visited. Ten months later, his efforts paid off: The camera captured a tigress as she embraced an ancient Manchurian fir, rubbing her cheek against the bark to leave her scent behind.

Gorshkov's photo won the 2020 Wildlife Photography of the Year competition, which is organized by the Natural History Museum in London. Now in its 56th year, the contest drew over 49,000 entries from photographers in 25 countries.

In addition to awarding a first-place prize, the contest also selects winners in 17 categories, including best underwater photo and best animal portrait. Many of the winners across all categories depict animals' struggles to survive in shrinking habitats and a warming world.

Below are the 16 other contest winners.

The youngest photographer to win an award, 10-year-old Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco, captured a stonechat balancing on a delicate stem.

A stonechat balances on a stem above a field of sweet-scented sulla vetches. Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Liina Heikkinen, who won the contest's Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, captured a fox cub stealing dinner from its siblings.

A fox cub drags a barnacle goose into a crevice on the island of Lehtisaari, Finland. Liina Heikkinen/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Eleonora's falcons are fierce predators, too. This one is bringing his mate the carcass of a smaller bird.

A male Eleonora's falcon brings his mate food on the steep cliffs of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. Alberto Fantoni/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

These great crested grebes work together to feed their chicks.

A great crested grebe family. Jose Luis Ruiz Jiménez/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Photographer Frank Deschandol's shot of two unlike insects shows how timing can be everything for a great shot.

A red-banded sand wasp (left) and a cuckoo wasp, about to enter next-door nest holes. Frank Deschandol/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Lighting is crucial, too. In this image, photographer Songda Cai's camera flash cast a golden glow on a baby diamondback squid.

A diamondback squid paralarva caught in a light beam. Songda Cai/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

To get his desired light, photographer Alex Badyaev set up his camera in a tree, hidden behind a piece of bark, then angled its flash to bounce off the trunk and cast light on this nest without bothering the birds.

A female Cordilleran flycatcher checks on her nestlings outside a cabin in Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. Alex Badyaev/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

To get his desired light, photographer Alex Badyaev set up his camera in a tree, hidden behind a piece of bark, then angled its flash to bounce off the trunk and cast light on this nest without bothering the birds.

A great photo requires preparation. Photographer Shanyuan Li spent six years observing Pallas' cats before getting this shot of a group of kittens.

A family of Pallas’s cats, or manuls, on the remote steppes of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau in northwest China. Shanyuan Li/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Several of the winning photos in this year's contest show wildlife in captivity. Here, a young pig-tailed macaque sits chained to a wooden cage, looking forlorn.

A young pig-tailed macaque is put on show, chained to a wooden cage in Bali’s bird market, Indonesia. Paul Hilton/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

In Russia's Circus on Ice, trainers force polar bears to dance and perform tricks. It's the only circus known to use polar bears in shows.

A trainer directs a polar bear at an ice-rink show in Kazan, Russia. Kisrten Luce/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Polar bears are considered a vulnerable species, but this Manduriacu glass frog is critically endangered.

A Manduriacu glass frog eats a spider in the foothills of the Andes, northwestern Ecuador. Jaime Culebras/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The proboscis monkey is also endangered, though this male's expression looks quite peaceful.

A young male proboscis monkey cocks his head slightly and closes his eyes. Mogens Trolle/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Of course, species that aren't endangered face plenty of challenges, too: This photo shows a parasite inside the mouth of a common clownfish. It sucked the blood in the fish's tongue until it fell off.

A 'tongue-eating louse' peeks out from the mouth of a clownfish as it swims through an anemone off the coast of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Sam Sloss/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Of course, species that aren't endangered face plenty of challenges, too: This photo shows a parasite inside the mouth of a common clownfish. It sucked the blood in the fish's tongue until it fell off.

The scene shown below, however, does not show any symbiosis whatsoever: A beetle is trying to rid itself of a weaver ant that had bit into its leg.

A weaver ant pulls at the leg of a Giant Riverine Tiger Beetle. Ripan Biswas/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The term wildlife doesn't just apply to animals, of course. It can also refer to plants like these white arnica flowers.

Groupings of rare white arnica flowers stand out against the blue dusk as Ritak'Uwa Blanco, the highest peak in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes, looms in the background. Gabriel Eisenband/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The same goes for lava like this dramatic flow along the side of Mount Etna.

Lava flows within a huge lava tunnel on the southern flank of Mount Etna. Luciano Gaudenzio/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

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The year's best wildlife photos reveal a super-chill monkey, a rare Siberian tiger, and an ant clinging to a beetle's leg

The youngest photographer to win an award, 10-year-old Andrés Luis Dominguez Blanco, captured a stonechat balancing on a delicate stem.

Liina Heikkinen, who won the contest's Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, captured a fox cub stealing dinner from its siblings.

Eleonora's falcons are fierce predators, too. This one is bringing his mate the carcass of a smaller bird.

These great crested grebes work together to feed their chicks.

Photographer Frank Deschandol's shot of two unlike insects shows how timing can be everything for a great shot.

Lighting is crucial, too. In this image, photographer Songda Cai's camera flash cast a golden glow on a baby diamondback squid.

To get his desired light, photographer Alex Badyaev set up his camera in a tree, hidden behind a piece of bark, then angled its flash to bounce off the trunk and cast light on this nest without bothering the birds.

A great photo requires preparation. Photographer Shanyuan Li spent six years observing Pallas' cats before getting this shot of a group of kittens.

Several of the winning photos in this year's contest show wildlife in captivity. Here, a young pig-tailed macaque sits chained to a wooden cage, looking forlorn.

In Russia's Circus on Ice, trainers force polar bears to dance and perform tricks. It's the only circus known to use polar bears in shows.

Polar bears are considered a vulnerable species, but this Manduriacu glass frog is critically endangered.

The proboscis monkey is also endangered, though this male's expression looks quite peaceful.

Of course, species that aren't endangered face plenty of challenges, too: This photo shows a parasite inside the mouth of a common clownfish. It sucked the blood in the fish's tongue until it fell off.

The scene shown below, however, does not show any symbiosis whatsoever: A beetle is trying to rid itself of a weaver ant that had bit into its leg.

The term wildlife doesn't just apply to animals, of course. It can also refer to plants like these white arnica flowers.

The same goes for lava like this dramatic flow along the side of Mount Etna.