A deer carrying the rotting head of its vanquished foe and a playful lynx shortlisted for Wildlife Photographer of the Year Nuveen People’s Choice Award
Stunning images showing a deer carrying a rival’s rotting head and a lynx playing with its food are among the shortlisted entries for a wildlife photography competition’s annual People’s Choice Award.
The Nuveen People’s Choice Award 2026 for Wildlife Photographer of the Year is organized by the Natural History Museum, London. Anyone, anywhere in the world can now vote online for their favorite photo.
Other notable images include a spinner dolphin “superpod” (Stenella longirostris) pushing their food to the surface of the ocean, and a tiger (Panthera tigris) with a rare genetic disorder resulting in broad, dark stripes.
Two heartbreaking images of polar bears (Urus maritimus) are also on the shortlist: a photo shows a mother and her three cubs taking a nap on the bare ground in the Canadian summer heatand the other captures a bear cub during a hunting trip to Svalbard that took a tragic turn when the cub and its mother got too close to a human settlement.
Voting closes on March 18 and the winning photograph will be announced on March 25. It will be exhibited with 100 images of last year’s wildlife photographer of the year competition in an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London open until July 2026.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year program is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. Don’t forget to tell us in the comments which image is your favorite.
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In “Flying Rodent”, Josef Stefan captured a young lynx playfully throwing a rodent into the air.(Image credit: Josef Stefan / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Swirling Superpod,” Cécile Gabillon captured a huge pod of spinner dolphins herding lanternfish toward the surface of the Pacific Ocean. (Image credit: Cécile Gabillon / Wildlife photographer of the year)
In “Above and Below”, Charles Davis captured a possum Joey and his mother reflecting each other while climbing a branch.(Image credit: Charles Davis / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Hold Me Tightly,” Dvir Barkay captured a brown-throated, three-toed mother sloth, cradling her young in her arms to protect them from the rain.(Image credit: Dvir Barkay / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Along for the Ride,” Chris Gug captured a juvenile swimming crab hitchhiking on a jellyfish in Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.(Image credit: Chris Gug / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Dark Knight,” Prasenjeet Yadav captured a rare tiger with broad, dark stripes wandering in a tiger reserve in India.(Image credit: Prasenjeet Yadav / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Into the Furnace,” Mogens Trolle captured a sun bear sheltering from the rain in a furnace as a butterfly alighted on its snout.(Image credit: Mogens Trolle / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Ready to Pounce,” Joseph Ferraro captured an ambush insect nymph remaining motionless in a flower, waiting for prey to wander into range.(Image credit: Joseph Ferraro / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Precious Cargo,” Thomas Hunt captured a cellar spider, sometimes called daddy long legs, carrying a ball of precious eggs in its mouth.(Image credit: Thomas Hunt / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Beak-to-Beak,” Ponlawat Thaipinnarong captured a Sarus crane parent sharing an intimate and touching moment with her week-old chick.(Image credit: Ponlawat Thaipinnarong / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “A Fragile Future,” Lance van de Vyver captured a baby pangolin nestled in the warmth of a blanket at a rescue center in South Africa.(Image credit: Lance van de Vyver / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “The Final Portrait”, Nima Sarikhani captured a polar bear cub accompanying its mother on an unsuccessful hunting trip.(Image credit: Nima Sarikhani / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “A Fleeting Moment,” Lior Berman captured a Rufous-breathed Ground Cuckoo plucking a cicada in the Costa Rican rainforest.(Image credit: Lior Berman / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Portrait of Extinction,” Adam Oswell captured Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers standing in front of a mountainous pile of confiscated snares.(Image credit: Adam Oswell / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Beauty Against the Beast,” Alexandre Brisson captured a group of pink flamingos against a backdrop of stark, industrial power lines.(Image credit: Alexandre Brisson / Wildlife Photography of the Year)
In “Couple’s Camouflage”, Artur Tomaszek captured a small male sitting on the abdomen of a well-camouflaged broad-headed female bark spider.(Image credit: Artur Tomaszek / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Uniqueness,” Daniela Anger captured a leucistic otter feeding on a catfish in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.(Image credit: Daniela Anger / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Marvellous Spatuletail,” Dustin Chen captured a marvelous male Spatula-tailed Hummingbird showing off his long tail as he feeds on flowers.(Image credit: Dustin Chen / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Bond in Motion,” Lalith Ekanayake captured a lion-tailed macaque carrying her baby in the Western Ghats, India.(Image credit: Lalith Ekanayake / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Solar Waves,” Francesco Russo captured rows of solar panels stretching across the landscape like ripples on the surface of water.(Image credit: Francesco Russo / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “A Leap to Adulthood,” Peter Lindel captured three young kestrels preparing to jump from their nest to a nearby beam.(Image credit: Peter Lindel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
In “Dancing in the Headlights,” Will Nicholls captured two young bear cubs fighting in the middle of a road.(Image credit: Will Nicholls / Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
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