No Access by Ian Wood was voted the People's Choice winner in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 awards.
No Access by Ian Wood was voted the People's Choice winner in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 awards.
An amusing image of a badger has been voted as the People’s Choice in the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year, announced this week.
The perfectly timed snap shows a Eurasian badger glancing up at badger graffiti at night in the British seaside town of St Leonards-on-Sea wherelocals have been leaving food scraps on the footpath for foxes.
Photographer Ian Wood noticed that badgers from a nearby sett were also coming to forage and made a hide to capture them in action with the only light from a nearby lamp-post.
“The outpouring of badger love since my photo was nominated for the People’s Choice Award has been beautifully overwhelming,” Wood said after receiving his award.
“Finding out that it has won is truly humbling, however, there is a darker side to this image.”
Earth and Sky by Francisco Negroni (Chile) - a photograph of a double lenticular cloud illuminated at nightfall by the lava from the Villarrica volcano in Chile.
Badgers have been culled in Wood’s native Dorset where they are considered to be a danger to farm animals.
“The badger cull – which is still ongoing – has decimated their numbers and I fear that unless the cull is stopped, we’ll only see badgers in urban settings in several parts of England,” said Wood.
“My hope is for this image to raise awareness of the damaging effect of the badger cull and help push for change.”
Edge of Night by Jess Findlay (Canada) - her shot of a ghostly barn owl exiting a derelict barn to hunt in fields outside Vancouver is a testament to skill, patience and tenacity.
Director of the Natural History Museum, Dr Douglas Gurr, said, “Ian’s flawlessly timed image offers a unique glimpse of nature’s interaction with the human world, underscoring the importance of understanding urban wildlife.
“His exceptional photograph serves as a powerful reminder that local nature and wildlife, often just outside our homes, can inspire and captivate us.”
Wood’s picture received the most of the 76,000 votes cast for 25 selected images from the 60,000 entries the competition received last year. Four other photographs received highly commended awards, impressing wildlife lovers around the world.
Spiked by David Northall (UK) - a bloodied yet determined honey badger returns to finish off a Cape porcupine, which earlier had tried to defend itself.
Francisco Negroni captured a remarkable double lenticular cloud formation illuminated at night by lava spewing from the Villaricca volcano in Chile, an incredible shot of a bloodied but determined honey badger predating on a porcupine despite receiving several barbs was David Northall’s entry, Michel d’Outremont photographed a white stoat in the snow in Belgium illustrating how camouflage really works and Jess Findlay’s shot of a ghostly barn owl flying out of a derelict barn near Vancouver is a testament to skill, patience and tenacity.
Whiteout by Michel d'Outremont (Belgium) shows a stoat sitting up and observing its territory as it blends perfectly into a snowy landscape in Belgium.
The five photographs are part of the competition exhibition on display at the Natural History Museum in London until the end of June.
Judging is underway in the 61st contest by an international panel of experts with the winners announced in an awards ceremony at the museum in October.
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