The annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Competition finds the very best wildlife images taken by the world's top professional and amateur photographers.
Ten long months spent stalking the rare and elusive snow leopard in temperatures as low as -40ºC paid off for a dogged photographer.
An image of the Himalayan big cat, silhouetted against a black sky filled with snow, won the aptly-named Steve Winter the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.
The picture captures the majestic beauty of the endangered leopard and the bitingly cold and hostile high-altitude landscape it manages to survive in.
An estimated 3,500-7,000 snow leopards (Uncia uncia) survive in the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas and mountains of Central Asia. A fearsome predator, it has suffered a steep decline in numbers because of poaching for its highly-prized skin and body parts.
An exhibition of the winning images will be on view at the Natural History Museum from October 31 2008 - April 26 2009.
Last year the exhibition attracted almost 134,000 visitors and was later seen by more than 1m people at regional and international venues.
Troublemaker – Stefano Unterthiner, Italy. Winner, animal portraits
Sacrifice - David Maitland, UK. Winner - One Earth Award
Clash of eagles – Antoni Kasprzak, Poland. Winner, behaviour – birds
Frodo's prize - Cyril Ruoso, France. Winner, behaviour – Mammals
Deadlock - David Maitland, United Kingdom. Winner, behaviour - Other Animals
0 comments:
Post a Comment