Black Rhino Image Wins
2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Brent Stirton, (South Africa) Memorial to a species
Winner: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017
The winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition were revealed today at a ceremony at the Natural History Museum, London, which runs the annual competition.
Five Australian photographers have been awarded in the competition both as Winners or Finalists across five categories, Animal Portraits, Behaviour: Birds, Behaviour: Invertebrates, Earth's Environments and The Wildlife Photojournalist Award: Single Image.
Photojournalist Brent Stirton has won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 title for his compelling image Memorial to a species, which frames a recently shot and de-horned black rhino in South Africa's Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve. Once the most numerous rhino species, black rhinos are now critically endangered due to poaching and the illegal international trade in rhino horn, one of the world's most corrupt illegal wildlife networks.
Daniël Nelson, (The Netherlands) The good life
Winner: Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Daniël Nelson took the award for Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 with his charismatic portrait of a young western lowland gorilla from the Republic of Congo, lounging on the forest floor whilst feeding on fleshy African breadfruit. Daniël's image captures the inextricable similarity between wild apes and humans, and the importance of the forest on which they depend.
Justin Gilligan, Crab surprise
Winner: Behaviour: Invertebrates
The two images were selected from 16 category winners, depicting the incredible diversity of life on our planet, from displays of rarely seen animal behaviour to hidden underwater worlds. Images from professional and amateur photographers are selected by a panel of industry-recognised professionals for their originality, artistry and technical complexity.
Beating almost 50,000 entries from 92 countries, Brent's image will be on show with 99 other images selected by an international panel of judges at the fifty-third Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.
Gerry Pearce, The incubator bird
Winner: Behaviour: Birds
The exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum on 20 October 2017 before touring across the UK and internationally. The exhibition will be open at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, Australia from 24 May 2018.
Adrian Steirn, Saved by compassion
Finalist: The Wildlife Photojournalist Award: Single
The next Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition opens for entries on Monday 23 October. Find out more at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/competition.html