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The best wildlife photos right now

The World Nature Photography Awards capture the serene and vicious beauty of nature

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Two gannets vying for a fish off the Shetland Islands.
Two gannets vying for a fish off the Shetland Islands.
Photo: Tracey Lund

The natural world is full of wonder. Life thrives in its every corner, from the abyssal depths of the oceans to the loftiest heights above Earth’s mountains. Thankfully, nature photographers capture Earth’s biodiversity in intimate detail, which is fully on display in the winning images from the World Nature Photography Awards.

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This year’s grand prize winner for the World Nature Photographer of the Year is Tracey Lund, for her fantastic shot of two gannets going after the same fish (seen above). But all the winners are worth a look, and you can view them here.

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A Himalayan griffon vulture’s bloody head

A Himalayan griffon vulture’s bloody head

A Himalayan griffon vulture's bloody head.
Photo: Partha Roy

The third place image in the animal portraits category went to this unsettling shot of a griffon vulture staring at the camera, its head feathers matted down by blood.

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An intimate moment between mother and child

An intimate moment between mother and child

An infant gorilla rests its hand on it's mother's hand.
Photo: Michael Stavrakakis

The second place image in animal portraits was awarded to this touching photo of a young gorilla’s hand resting on its mother’s, taken in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

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The glare of a frogfish

The glare of a frogfish

A menacing looking black frogfish off Kurnell, Australia.
Photo: Nicolas Remy

The winner of the animal portraits category was this creepy photo of a black frogfish (or black anglerfish) off the Australian coast.

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A green sea turtle

A green sea turtle

A green sea turtle underwater.
Photo: Dr Tom Shlesinger

The bronze winner in the animals in their habitat category went to this photo of a green sea turtle off the Galápagos island of San Cristobál. The turtle’s shell mirrors the green terrain above water.

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A lynx bounding

A lynx bounding

A Canadian lynx bounding through the snow.
Photo: Thomas Vijayan

The silver winner in the animals in their habitat category was this lynx, captured bounding through snow in Canada.

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Ibexes having a row

Ibexes having a row

Two Nubian ibexes on a cliff's edge.
Photo: Amit Eshel

These Nubian ibex were photographed fighting on the edge of a cliff in Israel’s Zin Desert. The fight ended without serious injury to either ibex. This photo won the gold in the animals in their habitat category.

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A bullfrog on the brink (of the water)

A bullfrog on the brink (of the water)

An American bullfrog on the edge of the water.
Photo: Rafal Dymarkowski

This American bullfrog sits on the edge of a body of water in Ottawa, in the third place photograph in the amphibian and reptilian behavior category of the competition.

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A night frog sings

A night frog sings

A male night frog calling next to an egg clutch.
Photo: Karthik Ak

The silver winner in the same category was this shot of a male night frog calling (note the puffed checks) in front of a clutch of eggs on a branch.

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Two species, one vibe

Two species, one vibe

A lava lizard perched on the head of an iguana.
Photo: John Seagar

The winner in the category devoted to amphibian and reptilian behavior was this shot of a lava lizard aboard the head of a marine iguana, which looks blissfully unbothered by the lizard’s position.

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A swan takes wing

A swan takes wing

A swan spreads its wings in the water.
Photo: Jouni Erola

This swan is seems to emerge from the water in this blindingly white image. The bird stretches out its wings against a white background, evoking angelic overtones. The image took the bronze in the bird behavior category.

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If the oxpecker fits, it sits

If the oxpecker fits, it sits

A yellow-billed oxpecker on an African water buffalo's snout.
Photo: Lakshitha Karunarathhna

The silver in bird behavior went to this image of a yellow-billed oxpecker holding onto the snout of an African water buffalo in Kenya.

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Two gannets going for a fish

Two gannets going for a fish

Two gannets going for a fish underwater.
Photo: Tracey Lund

The gold in bird behavior—as well as the overall grand prize winner of the competition—was this shot of two gannets under water off the Shetland Islands. Both birds are going for the same fish; it’s evident the birds just dove in, thanks to the dramatic surrounding bubbles.

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A wasp on a branch

A wasp on a branch

A cuckoo (or emerald) wasp.
Photo: Kevin Blackwell

The Cuckoo (or emerald) wasp won the bronze in the invertebrate behavior category. The wasp is holding onto a thin branch, and against the red background its iridescent green exoskeleton is even more brilliant.

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An illuminated mantis

An illuminated mantis

The silhouette of a mantis.
Photo: Panagiotis Dalagiorgos

A mantis silhouetted by a light won the silver in the invertebrate behavior category. The image is equal parts serene and creepy, making for a dramatic shot.

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Crabs amid the water

Crabs amid the water

Sally light-foot crabs in rushing water.
Photo: Bill Klipp

Sally light-foot crabs in the rushing water on Santiago Island in the Galapágos won first prize in invertebrate behavior. The crustaceans are the sole flashes of color in an otherwise greyscale landscape.

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Elephants under the trees

Elephants under the trees

An elephant herd under a forest canopy.
Photo: Lukas Walter

A herd of elephants at Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. Winning third place in the mammal behavior category, the photo shows one elephant stretching its trunk to grab a hold of a tree branch.

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A bobcat guards its quarry

A bobcat guards its quarry

A bobcat next to the carcass of a mule deer.
Photo: Elizabeth Yicheng Shen

This bobcat guarding the carcass of a mule deer took the silver in mammal behavior. Taken in Yellowstone National Park, the carcass is half buried by snow and appears to lie on a totally different plane from the upright felid.

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A cheetah chases down a meal

A cheetah chases down a meal

A cheetah pounces on a pair of zebras.
Photo: Alexander Brackx

In the gold winner in the mammal behavior category, a mother zebra and her foal are attacked by a cheetah in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve.

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An osprey preying

An osprey preying

An osprey catching fish in black and white.
Photo: Tom Nickels

The bronze winner in the black and white category was this image of an osprey catching fish. The image is speckled with water droplets, making the osprey’s unfurled wings appear like a cloak under which it hunts.

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An infant elephant

An infant elephant

An elephant calf with its mother.
Photo: Tom Way

This shot of an elephant calf under the stride of its mother won the silver medal in the black and white category.

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A lonely leopard

A lonely leopard

A leopard under a gnarled tree, with its reflection in a body of water.
Photo: Richard Li

The gold winner in the black and white category was this image of a leopard, photographed under an arced tree. The leopard stands on the edge of a water body, making a neat reflection of the big cat and the tree above it.

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The mirror of the mountains

The mirror of the mountains

A reflection in an Argentine lagoon shows the Patagonia mountain range.
Photo: Vittorio Ricci

This shot of a Patagonian lagoon took the bronze medal in the nature art category of the competition. The reflected peaks in the photo are in Los Glaciares National Park.

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A dizzying aspen grove

A dizzying aspen grove

A forest of aspen trees.
Photo: Robert J. Ross

The second place winner in the nature art category went to this spellbinding photo of aspen trees. With bushes on the forest floor and the trees’ yellow canopy above, the mesmerizing shot makes you wonder which way is up.

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Iceland from above

Iceland from above

Glacial braids and golden sediment in Iceland.
Photo: Miki Spitzer

An aerial image of landforms in Iceland won the nature art category. Blue veins of glacial water and yellow bands of sediment run through the volcanic landscape.

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A binturong locked up

A binturong locked up

A caged binturong.
Photo: Lennart Stolte

A binturong in captivity in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The small carnivore is used to produce a local coffee, from beans that pass through the animal’s digestive system.

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Heads, bills, and skulls in a market

Heads, bills, and skulls in a market

Baboon and hornbill heads at a market in Abomey, Benin.
Photo: Enrique Lopez Tapia

Baboon and hornbill heads at a voodoo market in Benin. This image was second place in the nature journalism category of the competition.

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A mouthful of plastic

A mouthful of plastic

A young sea lion with plastic in its mouth.
Photo: Celia Kujala

A sea lion pup with plastic in its mouth took the first place in the nature photojournalism category. This sea lion was spotted off Baja California.

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Chasing locusts

Chasing locusts

A boy in India chasing a locust swarm.
Photo: Hira Punjabi

The people and nature category of the competition showcases how our species interfaces with the natural world. This shot of a boy chasing locusts in Rajasthan took bronze in the category.

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A perch takes a peek

A perch takes a peek

A giant perch with a diver investigating a shipwreck in the background.
Photo: Ferenc Lorincz

A giant perch off Portugal checking out the camera, with a diver and a shipwreck in the background. This image took silver in the people and nature category.

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Stilt fishing at sunset

Stilt fishing at sunset

Stilt fishermen at sunset.
Photo: Pavlos Evangelidis

A group of stilt fishermen waiting for bites at sunset off Sri Lanka. This gorgeous photo won the gold in the people and nature category.

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An eye-candy landscape

An eye-candy landscape

The Godafoss waterfall in Iceland, the Northern Lights shining above.
Photo: Cari Letelier

The Godafoss waterfall in Iceland, beneath the northern lights. A luminous Moon is also visible. This shot was the third place photo in the category “Planet Earth’s landscapes and environments.”

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A volcano awakens

A volcano awakens

A foreboding orange light emanates from a cloud above the Villarrica volcano in Chile.
Photo: Francisco Negroni

An ominous shot of volcanic activity under a low cloud won second place in the landscape category; the Villarrica volcano is in Chile and makes for a foreboding subject.

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Otherworldly mountains

Otherworldly mountains

Iceland's Vestrahorn mountain.
Photo: Ivan Pedretti

The Vestrahorn mountain and the beach in foreground look otherworldly in this gold medal photo for the landscapes category.

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A wet-looking black trumpet

A wet-looking black trumpet

A black trumpet mushroom.
Photo: Radoslav Sviretsov

Trompette de la mort, or the black trumpet mushroom. This image was the third place photo in the plants and fungi category.

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Seaweed at sunrise

Seaweed at sunrise

Rainbow wrack seaweed beneath the surface of the water.
Photo: Martin Stevens

Seaweed in a rock pool in Falmouth, England, was the second place image in the plants and fungi category. The sunrise glares in the top-left corner of the image.

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A bulbous green plant

A bulbous green plant

Thismia thaithongiana
Photo: Chatree Lertsintanakom

I thought this was a jade mask at first. It’s actually Thismia thaithongiana, or Thaithong’s fairy lantern, a type of plant native to southeast Asia. This image won the gold in the plants and fungi category.

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A frilly jelly

A frilly jelly

A jellyfish (Pelagia nocticula) underwater.
Photo: Giovanni Crisafulli

A mauve stinger (P. noctiluca) off the coast of Noli, Italy. This shot claimed third place in the underwater category.

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Just passing through

Just passing through

A young humpback whale.
Photo: Philip Hamilton

A young humpback whale checks out the photographer as it swims by, off the coast of Tonga. This photo took second place in the underwater category.

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Diving through the herring

Diving through the herring

An orca amid a school of herring.
Photo: Andy Schmid

An orca diving through a school of herring off Skjervøy, Norway. This image won the underwater category.

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A beaver at night

A beaver at night

A Eurasian beaver at night.
Photo: Ádám Horváth

This somewhat skeptical-looking beaver was photographed at night in Budapest, Hungary. The beaver took the bronze in the urban wildlife category.

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A fox in the rubble

A fox in the rubble

A fox close up amid a pile of rubble.
Photo: Roman Willi

A fox amid rubble in Lucerne, Switzerland won silver in the urban wildlife category. This photo shows how animals make use of human landscapes—and indeed, human leftovers—as they go about their lives.

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Nesting on the serpent

Nesting on the serpent

A sunbird in its nest, built in a human toy.
Photo: Roy Wiesner

The winning image in the urban wildlife cateogry is this shot of a female sunbird in her nest—build into a a discarded human toy.

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A version of this article originally appeared on Gizmodo.

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