An “ambling Eurasian badger,” lava coming from a Chilean volcano, an owl flying out of a barn, a stoat blending into the snow and a prickled honey badger all made the top five for a prestigious Natural History Museum award.
Ian Wood, from the UK, is this year’s winner with his snap No Access – showing a badger glancing at badger graffiti in St Leonards-on-Sea.
Members of the public were asked to vote on their favourite of 25 shortlisted pictures for the People’s Choice Award of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year prize
The picture was described by the Natural History Museum (NHM) as: “An ambling Eurasian badger, illuminated by a streetlight, appears to glance up at badger graffiti on a quiet road in England, UK.”
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Mr Wood said the “outpouring of badger love” since his photo’s nomination “has been beautifully overwhelming,” but added: “Finding out that it has won is truly humbling.”
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Four other pictures were highly commended, including Francisco Negroni’s Earth and Sky.
The NHM said: “A double lenticular cloud is illuminated at nightfall by the lava emitted from the Villarrica volcano, Chile.”
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Other highly commended pictures included Edge of Night by Jess Findlay, from Canada.
“A ghostly barn owl exits the hayloft window of a derelict barn to hunt in fields outside Vancouver, Canada,” the NHM said.
Michel d’Oultremont’s Whiteout was also commended, showing the moment when a stoat “sits up and observes its territory as it blends perfectly into a snowy landscape in Belgium”.
Lastly, another British photographer David Northall was commended for Spiked – showing “a bloodied yet determined honey badger returns to finish off a Cape porcupine, which earlier had tried to defend itself”.
