Top 10 mesmerising Photos from the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Sheetal Kumari

August  30, 2024

Two tawny owls nuzzle on a branch in Munich’s Maximiliansanlagen Park. Photographer Sasha Jumanca was amazed to find them in this urban setting.

Representative Image: Sasha Jumanca/ Natural History Museum

William Fortescue captured a dramatic moment between two lions mating under stormy skies, where the female ends the encounter with an overly eager male.

Representative Image: William Fortescue/ Natural History Museum

Named after Bowie’s alter ego, the David Bowie spider is found in Malaysia’s rainforests. Lam Soon Tak photographed one guarding eggs on a riverbank branch.

Representative Image: Lam Soon Tak/ Natural History Museum

On the Mongolian Plateau under the moonlight, Xingchao Zhu photographed a Pallas’s cat with its prey, a Mongolian lark, just before dawn.

Representative Image: Xingchao Zhu/ Natural History Museum

In Brazil’s Pantanal, Ian Ford captured a jaguar’s skull-crushing bite on a yacare caiman after a radio alert led him to the riverbank.

Representative Image: Ian Ford/ Natural History Museum

Jose Manuel Grandio captured a stoat mid-air on his last trip, seeing it as exuberance, though it could also be due to a parasitic infection.

Representative Image: Jose Manuel Grandio/ Natural History Museum

After pollution cleanup, Jason Gulley captured a heartwarming moment of a manatee mother and calf in Crystal River, showcasing their joyful rebound with bubbles and expressions.

Representative Image: Jason Gulley/ Natural History Museum

Georgina Steytler captured the intense mating battle of Dawon’s burrowing bees, with males swarming a solitary female, using a long lens to capture the details.

Representative Image: Georgina Steytler/ Natural History Museum

Tommy Trenchard photographed a requiem shark’s final moments aboard Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise, highlighting the issue of bycatch in industrial-scale fishing and poor regulation.

Representative Image: Tommy Trenchard/ Natural History Museum

Shreyovi Mehta captured two silhouetted peahens at dawn in Keoladeo National Park, India, crouching low to create this dream-like image.

Representative Image: Shreyovi Mehta/ Natural History Museum