Photos: Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Awards 2015

The overall winner of the competition was Canadian photographer Don Gutoski. The judges were moved by his picture of a red fox clutching a lifeless arctic fox in a rare example of the two larger of the two foxes hunting its smaller cousin. The picture was taken in the far north of Canada, where global warming has forced the two species to live in the same areas and compete for the same prey. (Don Gutoski / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

 

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award, developed and produced by the Natural History Museum in London announced their winners.

Dan Gutoski from Canada was the overall winner for capturing a photo of a red fox eating an Arctic fox.

Here are nine of the winners’ submissions:

A massive Bryde’s whale rips through a shoal of sardines in the picture that won the Underwater category. The whales can eat hundreds of fish in one bite, and the feeding frenzy was captured by photographer Michael AW during the annual sardine run, when billions of sardines migrate along South Africa’s Wild Coast. (Michael AW / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

In Guilin China, big cats are drugged, have their claws removed and are forced to perform in shows by trainers wielding spiked metal poles. Britta Jaschinski won the Wildlife Photojournalist Single Image award by capturing the cruel and surreal nature of the circus show. (Britta Jaschinski / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

A barn swallow soars through a torn oil painting in this surreal image, captured by Juan Tapia at his farm in Spain. Juan hung the ripped painting in front of a storehouse window, knowing it was a spot the swallows often flew through. The resulting picture took the prize in the Impressions category. (Juan Tapia / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

A birdseye view of the Bahia de Cadiz National Park in Spain shows the marshes alive with bright colour, thanks to a bloom of microalgae, salt deposits and orangey-brown sediment. The picture took the top prize in the From The Sky category. (Pere Soler / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

Jonathan Jagot claimed victory in the 15 to 17-year-old photographer category with his shot of a flock of Scarlet Ibis gliding smoothly over a Brazilian sand dune. The birds are usually found in marshes and mangroves, so the sand is an usual background for their flight. (Jonathan Jagot / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

Photographer Amir Ben-Dov spent days observing the behaviour of these red-footed falcons in Israel before snapping this moment of interaction. The strange dynamic he caught won him the prize in the Birds category. (Amir Ben-Dov / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

In the 11 to 14 year-old photographer category, the top picture was taken in the far north of Norway during summer, when the sun shines 24 hours a day. Photographer Ondrej Pelánek visited with his father, and captured these male ruffs fighting for the attention of the females. (Ondrej-Pelánek / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

The ghostly silouette of a fox, taken in a Surrey garden, was the winning photograph in the Urban category. Richard Peters was aiming to capture the relationship between urban foxes and humans, despite not actually depicting either. (Richard Peter / Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)