The World Nature Photography Awards announced the winners of their 2020 competition, showcasing an array of talented photographers from around the world.
The grand prize winner award went to Thomas Vijayan for his image of the endangered Bornean orangutan. Vijayan spent hours up a tree, waiting to see if one of the local orangutans would use it to cross over to a nearby island.
Take a look at some of the jaw-dropping images.
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo. Photograph: Thomas Vijayan/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - Plants and Fungi category: Bald cypress stand in East Texas. Photograph: Doron Talmi/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - Bird Behaviour category: This great horned owl just jumped from its perch in the trees to begin flight. She thrust her wings forward to gain momentum. As the wings connected in front of her, it appeared as though she formed a perfect flying saucer. The image was taken near High River, Canada. Photograph: Dale Paul/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - Animal Portrait category: A Bengal tigress with a catchlight in her eye lies up to her neck in the dark shadows of a water hole. Her name is Maya ‘The Enchantress’, and she has orange and black stripes with white patches on her head. Photographed in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, India. Photograph: Nick Dale/World Nature Photography Awards
SECOND PLACE - Animals Portraits category: Small skipper butterfly photographed at Belton Hills, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, UK. Photograph: Joseph Shaffery/World Nature Photography Awards
THIRD PLACE - Animal Portraits category: Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) photographed in Espelo, the Netherlands. Photograph: Femke Van Willigen/World Nature Photography Awards
SECOND – Animals In Their Habitat category: A cunning red fox walking over a log during a bitterly cold night. Photograph: Vladimir Cech/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - Amphibian and Reptiles category: Two European common brown frogs (Rana temporaria) Aveto Regional Natural Park, Italy. Photograph: Vittorio Ricci/World Nature Photography Awards
THIRD – Invertebrate Behaviour category: Weaver ants (Oecophylla) photographed at Alam Sutera, Serpong, Indonesia. Photograph: Janus Olajuan Boediman/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - Mammals category: An interloper approaches a watering hole in the Serengeti that was already claimed by a small pride of lions. As the lioness came close, the pride attacked her in order to drive her away. Photograph: Patrick Nowotny/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - Black and White category: Ulysses, one of the last remaining great tuskers, bears down on top of me, demonstrating his colossal size and tusks. Photograph: Harry Skeggs/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - Nature art: A glacial river flowing down to the Atlantic Ocean, Southern Iceland. Photograph: Dipanjan Pal/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - Nature Photojournalism category: A white rhino is dehorned to prevent it from being killed by poachers. However, it’s a highly effective strategy, as well as a conservation measure of last resort. All rhino species are, or have been, on the brink of extinction due to the popularity of their horns in Asia. Photograph: Gunther De Bruyne/World Nature Photography Awards
WINNER - People and Nature category: Andre Fajardo and I went to dive early one morning. Sometimes you'll see a ton of life in this area and other times you won't. This particular day we came upon a few bait balls and the fish let us swim around them. The photo was taken in the Pacific Ocean in the Hawaiian Islands. Photograph: Christa Funk/World Nature Photography Awards
SECOND PLACE - People and Nature category: A northern giant petrel swims along Ningaloo Reef in Australia. Photograph: Naomi Rose/World Nature Photography Awards
