Wildlife photographer of the year people’s choice award – in pictures

Thomas Vijayan’s image of grey langurs was the overwhelming favourite among the almost 20,000 nature photography lovers that voted in the Wildlife photographer of the year people’s choice award

See more winning images: Wildlife photographer of the year people’s choice award – in pictures

2015 Wildlife Photographer of the Year – winners announced.

A picture of a red fox standing over the bloodied body of an Arctic fox wins the prestigious 2015 Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Edwin Giesbers (Netherlands) pictures a newt from underneath as it moves across the surface of a stream. The picture wins the “Amphibians and Reptiles” category.

The “Under Water” winner is Michael Aw (Australia). This is a Bryde’s whale ripping through a sardine “bait ball” offshore of South Africa’s Transkei coast.

See more… Warring foxes take top wildlife photo prize – BBC News

Zoological Society of London’s wildlife photography competition winners have been announced.

The winners of the fourth annual Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s wildlife photography competition have been announced.  Adult winner in the Weird and Wonderful category – ‘Bright Eyes’ by Carolyn Collins shows a green tree frog with bright blue eyes.

The Judges Choice and winner of the Size Matters category – ‘Timeless’ was captured by photographer Andy Skillen who saw the lone grizzly bear patrolling the beaches of the Greater Lake Clark National Park area with Alaska’s mountains providing an iconic backdrop.

Adult winner of The Birds and the Bees category – ‘A present for my love’ by John Gooday shows a male European Bee-eater presenting a female with a food gift of a dragonfly as part of a courtship ritual.

See more… The INCREDIBLE wildlife moments captured by top animal photographers

Puma watching in Chile’s Torres Del Paine National Park

Pumas are among the least seen of earth’s big cats. Though they’re widely distributed from the Canadian Rockies to the southernmost Andes (and known alternatively as cougars or mountain lions), pumas have historically been thought of as too elusive for any sort of commercial tourism.

That changed when a company called Quasar Expeditions, in partnership with Explora Patagonia, launched its first puma trekking safaris earlier this year in Chile’s famed Torres Del Paine National Park.

The idea was to give wildlife enthusiasts the same opportunity to see pumas as they’d have with jaguars in Brazil, lions in Africa or tigers in India.

Source: Puma safari in Chile – CNN.com

Other Puma Watching Options

Incredible photos from Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers

All creatures great and small as you’ve never seen them before: Incredible entries from international wildlife photography competition.

From tiny critters in a garden pond to an Osprey swooping in with a fish in its talons, these stunning images capture all creatures great and small as you’ve never seen them before.

See more… Incredible photos from Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers | Daily Mail Online.

Amur Leopard Population Hits At Least 65

Photos: Amur Leopard Population Hits At Least 65: Photo 4

Most of the world’s big predators are in decline, but there are some happy stories out there. This week, WWF announced that the Amur leopard population has grown to a total of 65-69 cats. This represents a more than doubling of the population in eight years. Still, the Critically Endangered subspecies remains perilously close to extinction.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done in order to secure a safe future for the Amur leopard, but these numbers demonstrate that things are moving in the right direction,” said Barney Long, the Director of Species Conservation for WWF-US.

Read more… Photos: Amur Leopard Population Hits At Least 65

The lioness that leaps into a man’s arms and embraces him.

The lion hugger

In 2012 Valentin Gruener rescued a young lion cub and raised it himself at a wildlife park in Botswana. It was the start of an extraordinary relationship.

Now an astonishing scene is repeated each time they meet – the young lion leaps on Gruener and holds him in an affectionate embrace.

“Since the lion arrived, which is three years now, I haven’t really left the camp,” says Gruener.

“Sometimes for one night I go into the town here to organise something for the business, but other than that I’ve been here with the lion.”

The lion he has devoted himself to is Sirga – a female cub he rescued from a holding pen established by a farmer who was fed up with shooting animals that preyed on his cattle.

Read more (and video)… BBC News – The lion hugger.

Picture captures rare family portrait of Amur tiger couple with their three cubs

Picture captures rare family portrait of Amur tiger couple with their three cubs | Daily Mail Online

A portrait of a rare Amur tiger family captured on film in the wild has provided clues that the notoriously solitary male big cats may play a role in rearing cubs.

Scientists have long believed that the large adult males tend to leave females to raise their young and they are known to even attack and kill cubs when they come across them.

However, in an astonishing new set of images captured by a camera trap in the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve in eastern Russia, a large male Amur tiger is seen leading a family of three cubs and their mother through the snowy forest.

Read more: Picture captures rare family portrait of Amur tiger couple with their three cubs | Daily Mail Online.