Badger admiring Banksy-style image wins wildlife photo competition

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ypn8jz9q7o

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A badger appearing to admire a Banksy-style graffiti version of itself has won the Natural History Museum's 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award.

Captured on a quiet road in St Leonards-on-Sea, England by British photographer Ian Wood.

Ian had noticed badgers emerging from a nearby sett to forage for food scraps left out for foxes.

"I spent the best part of two years photographing them, and this particular photo came about as an idea. I thought it'd be fun to put the graffiti there and see if I could get a badger walking underneath it," he told the BBC.

Ian sees a deeper message in his photo around the controversial subject of badger culling.

Badger culling has been used to contain bovine tuberculosis but will end in England within five years as part of a shift in the fight against the disease, the government said last year.

Ian called badger culling "a national disgrace" and said: "I would swap this award immediately for the government to rescind all existing badger culling licenses."

The 25 nominated images for this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award received a record-breaking 76,000 votes from wildlife photography and nature fans worldwide.

In addition to the winning image, four other finalists were highly commended.

All five images will be displayed online and at London's Natural History Museum until 29 June.

Spiked by David Northall (UK)

A bloodied but determined honey badger pursues a Cape porcupine in Botswana.

After a quick retreat to lick its wounds, the badger returned to finish the job and dragged the porcupine back to its den.

Whiteout by Michel d'Oultremont (Belgium)

Look very closely - can you see the stoat?

It sits proudly in the snow, blending seamlessly with its surroundings in this snowy scene from Belgium.

Michel d'Oultremont had been on the hunt for stoats in the snow for years, fascinated by how they disappear into the white landscape.

After covering himself in a white camouflage net, he got his shot when a curious stoat popped out of its snowy den to check out its territory before heading out to hunt.

Edge of Night by Jess Findlay (Canada)

In this stunning shot, a barn owl flies out of an old barn to hunt in the fields near Vancouver.

Jess Findlay spent several nights quietly observing the owl to learn its habits and set up an invisible beam that would trigger a flash when it took off.

With a slow shutter speed to capture the surrounding light, everything came together perfectly on the tenth night as the owl made its move.

Earth and Sky by Francisco Negroni (Chile)

This amazing shot shows a double lenticular cloud lit up by the lava from the Villarrica volcano in Chile.

Francisco Negroni visits the volcano often to monitor its activity, never knowing what to expect.

On this particular trip, after 10 nights he captured the intense glow of the erupting lava lighting up the sky in a fiery, surreal display.

The stunning images that were also nominated

British/Canadian photographer Mark Williams documents a beluga whale exfoliating its skin in the Arctic. Hundreds gather in these safe waters, away from predatory orcas, socialising and shedding old skin

British photographer Sue Flood frames a Weddell seal resting on an ice floe in Antarctica. Using a long lens, she avoids disturbing the slumbering giant, which relies on blubber to survive the icy waters

American photographer Aaron Baggenstos photographs a puma standing tall in Chile's Torres del Paine National Park. A conservation movement helped reduce conflict with local sheep farmers, offering hope for coexistence

Indian photographer Arvind Ramamurthy captures an Indian wolf pack pausing mid-play in Bhigwan. As their habitat shrinks, conservation offers hope for these resilient predators to make a comeback

Hungarian photographer, Bence Máté watches a European roller ambush a little owl in Kiskunság National Park. Spending 27 days in a hide, he captures this fleeting moment of territorial defence

Australian photographer Brad Leue captures floodwaters surging into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in Australia. Photographing from a helicopter in strong winds, he documents this once-in-a-decade natural event

Italian photographer Carlo D'Aurizio discovered a surreal collage of dead butterflies floating in a stream in Italy. It was not what he expected to find and still has no explanation of why the insects died

American photographer Devon Pradhuman captures four grey wolves crossing a snowy aspen grove in Yellowstone

German photographer Christian Brinkmann silhouettes a Eurasian blackbird against Münster's fairground lights

Norwegian photographer Erlend Haarberg shows a polar bear cub attempting an underwater attack on a northern fulmar. Though unsuccessful, this playful practice is vital for learning to hunt

Czech photographer Ivan Ivanek captures a rare moment between red-shanked douc langurs in Sơn Trà Peninsula in Vietnam. Critically endangered, these primates are threatened by habitat loss and hunting

Portuguese photographer Jose Fragozo captures a cheetah cub hissing while waiting to be sold. Victim to illegal wildlife trafficking, this cub was later rescued and taken to safety

American photographer Michael Forsberg captured a disguised biologist approaching an endangered whooping crane to check the bird's health and change a broken transmitter

Israeli photographer Noam Kortler captures a decorator crab perched on a sea squirt in Komodo

American photographer Nora Milligan captures a thoughtful moment as a chimpanzee in Loango National Park pauses and looks down at its family

Polish photographer Piotr Naskrecki documents a rare four-toed sengi foraging in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Skittish by nature, the tiny mammal follows the same trails daily, searching for insects

French photographer Samuel Bloch captures a northern giant petrel nesting in a rātā tree forest on Enderby Island, New Zealand. Used to vast open oceans, this seabird's presence in dense woodland was a rare sight

American photographer Savannah Rose documents a beaver dramatically smacking its tail in Jackson, Wyoming. This is a defensive behaviour that warns family members of newcomers

French photographer Vincent Premel photographs a Surinam golden-eyed tree frog calling for a mate, a call that is so powerful it can be heard hundreds of metres away

South African photographer Willie Burger van Schalkwyk captures a giant ground gecko standing up to a pale chanting goshawk. Despite its brave fight, the gecko had no chance of survival

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