Banksy fan badger wins hearts in wildlife photo competition
7 hours agoMaddie MolloyBBC Climate & Science
Ian WoodA badger appearing to admire a Banksy – of a badger – 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, the badger appears to glance up at a graffiti version of itself designed by the mysterious artist.
Ian had noticed badgers emerging from a nearby den 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)
David Northall / Wildlife Photographer of the YearA 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)
Michel d’Oultremont / Wildlife Photographer of the YearLook 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)
Jess Findlay / Wildlife Photographer of the YearIn 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)
Francisco Negroni / Wildlife Photographer of the YearThis 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
Mark Williams / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Sue Flood / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Aaron Baggenstos / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Arvind Ramamurthy / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Bence Máté / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Brad Leue / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Carlo D’Aurizio / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Devon Pradhuman / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Christian Brinkmann / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Erlend Haarberg / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Ivan Ivanek / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Jose Fragozo / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Michael Forsberg / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Noam Kortler / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Nora Milligan / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Piotr Naskrecki / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Samuel Bloch / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Savannah Rose / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Vincent Premel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Willie Burger van Schalkwyk / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
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