From fascinating moments in the animal kingdom to spectacular nature photographs: The winners of the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest showcase the beauty,and diversity of our wildlife.
Image: Federico Veronesi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026
Amelie Davis from the United Kingdom won the category for children up to age 10 with her photo “Flight of the Bumblebee.” She had been shooting bees for months. One August afternoon in Surrey, England, she used her father’s smartphone to capture a buff-tailed bumblebee as it approached a flower — with astonishingly fine details of a single wingbeat.
Image: Amelie Davis
Kutub Uddin won the Portfolio Prize for his series “Secret Worlds.” The photographer, who is from Bangladesh and the UK, explores the hidden world of slime molds in the forests of southeastern England. He photographed these structures, which measure only one to two millimeters in size, using a macro lens and combined 124 individual shots into a single image.
Image: Kutub Uddin
Konrad Gräeter of Germany won the category for teens ages 15 to 17 with his photo “Birdsong Painted in Light.” One April morning, he photographed a singing blackbird in a vineyard in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg. To do so, he crouched on the steep slope and aimed his camera through a gap in the foliage.
Image: Konrad Gräeter
Young photographer Oscar Whitfield won the category for 11- to 14-year-olds with his photo “Labour of Love.” To capture the image of a dung beetle rolling a dung ball in front of it, the young photographer lay flat on the ground. Dung beetles play an important role in the ecosystem: By breaking down and burying dung, they help reduce methane emissions.
Image: Oscar Whitfield
British photographer Seth Forestson won the “Urban Wildlife” category with his photo “Urban Jungle.” In Lumphini Park in Bangkok, he spotted a water monitor lizard carrying off a fish as its prey. To frame the reptile against the skyline of the Thai capital, Forestson lay down in the mud. Monitor lizards have adapted well to life in cities.
Image: Seth Forestson
With this photograph, US photographer Alex Lindbloom won the “Oceans: The Big Picture” category. Off the coast of Papua, Indonesia, he used a drone to photograph a whale shark approaching a lit, floating fishing platform. The platform’s light makes the shark visible in the darkness. Whale sharks are regularly spotted there by fishermen and attract tourists.
Image: Alex Lindbloom
Italian wildlife photographer Federico Veronesi won in the category “Behaviour: Mammals” with his photograph “The Aftermath.” In Namibia’s Huab River Valley, tracks in the sand led him to a female elephant carrying her dead calf. Researchers interpret such behavior as a possible sign of grief.
Image: Federico Veronesi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 20267 images1 | 77 imageshttps://p.dw.com/p/5OFhX
