Wildlife photographer of the year 2024 winners – in pictures

Selected from a record-breaking 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories, the winners of the Natural History Museum’s prestigious wildlife photographer of the year competition have been announced, with an exhibition opening on Friday 11 October. The Canadian marine conservation photojournalist Shane Gross was awarded wildlife photographer of the year 2024 for his image of tadpoles, The Swarm of Life, captured while snorkelling through lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Free as a Bird by Alberto Román Gómez (Spain)

The winner of the 10 years and under category contrasts a delicate stonechat bird with a hefty chain. Watching from the window of his father’s car at the edge of the Sierra de Grazalema nature park, Alberto found this young bird tricky to photograph as it was quickly flying back and forth, gathering insects. To Alberto, the stonechat displayed a sense of ownership, as if it were a young guardian overseeing its territory

Photograph: Alberto Román Góme/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Life Under Dead Wood by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas (Germany)

The winner of the 15-17 years category rolled a log over to see the fruiting bodies of slime mould and a tiny springtail. Alexis worked fast to take this photograph, as springtails can jump many times their body length in a split second. He used a technique called focus stacking, where 36 images, each with a different area in focus, are combined

Photograph: Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Frontier of the Lynx by Igor Metelskiy (Russia)

The winner of the animals in their environment category shows a lynx stretching in the early evening sunshine, its body mirroring the undulating wilderness. The remote location and changing weather conditions made access to this spot – and transporting equipment there – a challenge. Metelskiy positioned his camera trap near the footprints of potential prey. It took more than six months of waiting to achieve this relaxed image of the elusive lynx

Photograph: Igor Metelskiy/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Old Man of the Glen by Fortunato Gatto (Italy)

The winner of the plants and fungi category focuses on a gnarled old birch tree adorned with pale ‘old man’s beard’ lichens. Gatto often visits the Glen Affric ancient pinewoods alone to lose himself in its intricate, chaotic, timeless beauty. The pale ‘old man’s beard’ lichens indicate that it’s an area of minimal air pollution. Analysis of pollen preserved in the layered sediments shows that the forest has stood here for at least 8,300 years

Photograph: Fortunato Gatto/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Hope for the Ninu by Jannico Kelk (Australia)

The winner of the impact award shows a ninu, with the wire grass and shrubs behind it providing a frame against the darkness. Jannico spent each morning walking the sand dunes of a conservation reserve, searching for footprints that this rabbit-sized marsupial may have left the night before. Finding tracks near a burrow, he set up his camera trap. The greater bilby has many Aboriginal names, including ninu. It was brought to near extinction through predation by introduced foxes and cats

Photograph: Jannico Kelk/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Demolition Squad by Ingo Arndt (Germany)

This image documents the efficient dismemberment of a blue ground beetle by red wood ants. ‘Full of ant’ is how Arndt described himself after lying next to the ants’ nest for just a few minutes. Arndt watched as the red wood ants carved an already dead beetle into pieces small enough to fit through the entrance to their nest

Photograph: Ingo Arndt/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Dolphins of the Forest by Thomas Peschak (Germany/South Africa)

The winner of the photojournalist story award shows the Amazon River dolphin, one of two freshwater dolphin species living in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Peschak documents the relationship between endangered Amazon River dolphins, also known as botos or pink river dolphins, and the people with whom they share their watery home. Traditional Amazonian beliefs hold that the dolphins can take on human form, and they are both revered and feared. Others see them as thieves who steal fish from nets and should be killed

Photograph: Thomas P Peschak/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Serengeti of the Sea by Sage Ono (US)

The winner of the rising star portfolio award explores the abundant life around the giant kelp forests in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Inspired by the stories told by his grandfather, a retired marine biologist, and by a photograph of a larval cusk eel, Ono acquired a compact underwater camera and decided to take up underwater photography. After university, he moved to the coast near the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in California to pursue his interest. The submerged world of the bay’s forests of giant kelp – the biggest of all seaweeds – and the diversity of life they contain have mostly captured his imagination

Photograph: Sage Ono/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

On Watch by John E Marriott (Canada)

The winner of the animal portraits category frames a lynx resting, with its fully grown young sheltering from the cold wind behind it. Marriott had been tracking this family group for almost a week, wearing snowshoes and carrying light camera gear to make his way through snowy forests. When fresh tracks led him to the group, he kept his distance to make sure he didn’t disturb them. With climate change reducing snow coverage, giving other predators more opportunities to hunt hares, hare populations may decline, in turn affecting the lynx population

Photograph: John E Marriott/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Wetland Wrestle by Karine Aigner (US)

Winner of the behaviour: amphibians and reptiles category, Aigner captures a yellow anaconda as it coils itself around the snout of a yacaré caiman. The tour group Aigner was leading had stopped to photograph some marsh deer when she noticed an odd shape floating in the water. Through binoculars, Aigner quickly recognised the reptiles and watched as they struggled with each other. Caimans are generalist feeders and will eat snakes. As anacondas get larger, they will include reptiles in their diet. It’s hard to determine who is the aggressor here. On the snake’s back are two tabanids, blood-sucking horseflies that are known to target reptiles

Photograph: Karine Aigner/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Swarm of Life by Shane Gross (Canada)

This winning image looks under the surface layer of lily pads as a mass of western toad tadpoles swim past. Western toad tadpoles swim up from the safer depths of the lake, dodging predators and trying to reach the shallows, where they can feed. The tadpoles start becoming toads between four and 12 weeks after hatching. An estimated 99% will not survive to adulthood

Photograph: Shane Gross/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Tiger in Town by Robin Darius Conz (Germany)

This image focuses on a tiger on an Indian hillside against the backdrop of a town where forests once grew. Conz was following this tiger as part of a documentary team filming the wildlife of the Western Ghats. On this day, he used a drone to watch the tiger explore its territory before it settled in this spot. The protected areas in the Western Ghats, where tigers are carefully monitored, are some of the most biodiverse landscapes in India and have a stable population of tigers

Photograph: Robin Darius Conz/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Recording by Hand by Liwia Pawłowska (Poland)

This image shows a relaxed common whitethroat gently being held by a bird ringer. Pawłowska is fascinated by bird ringing, and has been photographing ringing sessions since she was nine. She says she hopes her photograph ‘helps others to get to know this topic better’. Volunteers can assist trained staff at bird-ringing sessions, where a bird’s length, sex, condition and age are recorded. Data collected helps scientists to monitor populations and track migratory patterns, aiding conservation efforts

Photograph: Liwia Pawłowska/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Dusting for New Evidence by Britta Jaschinski (Germany/UK)

A crime scene investigator from London’s Metropolitan police dusting for prints on a confiscated tusk. Jaschinski spent time at the Border Force CITES department, where confiscated animal products are tested. Newly developed magnetic powder allows experts to obtain fingerprints from ivory up to 28 days after it was touched, increasing the chances of identifying those involved in its illegal trade

Photograph: Britta Jaschinski/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A Diet of Deadly Plastic by Justin Gilligan (Australia)

This image creates a mosaic from the 403 pieces of plastic found inside the digestive tract of a dead flesh-footed shearwater. Gilligan has been documenting Adrift Lab’s work for several years, often joining them on beach walks at dawn to collect dead chicks. The team brings together biologists from around the world to study the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems. Studies found that three quarters of adult flesh-footed shearwaters breeding on Lord Howe Island – and 100% of fledglings – contained plastic.

Photograph: Justin Gilligan/2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year