Federico Veronesi's photograph of an elephant carrying a dead calf has won the top prize in Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The image, titled "The Aftermath," also won the Behaviour: Mammals category.
Veronesi captured the moment while tracking elephants when he noticed unusual drag marks in the sand of a dry riverbed. The source became clear when he caught up with a family group: a female emerged with the calf, its leg wedged between her tusk and trunk.
Jury chair praises 'gut punch' image
Kathy Moran, chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year jury, said the winning photograph "says it all." "This photograph works on so many levels," she said. "Emotionally it's a gut punch, heartbreakingly poignant. Intellectually it's proof that animals have cognition."
The competition, run by the Natural History Museum, received over 65,000 entries. A panel of seven experts judged the images anonymously on creativity, technical excellence and originality.
Complex behaviours and other winners
Behaviours centring on death have been observed in both Asian and African elephants, including vocalisations, guarding the dead, inspecting and handling bones, and carrying the deceased. Some researchers suggest these behaviours could indicate an elephant's journey to understanding death, while others interpret them as possible displays of grief.
Other winners include Anton Sorokin's "Protective Pose" (Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles), showing a California newt guarding its eggs; James Lewin's "The Meeting Place" (Animals in their Environment), an infrared image of a young bull elephant spraying zebras in Kenya; and Amelie Davis's "Flight of the Bumblebee" (10 Years and Under), taken on her dad's smartphone.
Young winners and ocean stories
Oscar Whitfield won the 11-14 Years category with "Labour of Love," a dung beetle pushing its cargo. Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas took the Rising Star Award for "Hidden Depths," a macro image of a springtail. Isak Pretorius won Behaviour: Birds with "Scenes from the Swamp," showing two shoebill storks. Seth Forestson won Urban Wildlife with "Urban Jungle," a water monitor in Bangkok.
Francisco Negroni's "Warning Sign" (Photojournalism) documents a dead puma tied to a fence in Patagonia, where Santa Cruz banned puma hunting in 2025. Konrad Gräeter won 15-17 Years with "Birdsong Painted," a blackbird in a vineyard. Kutub Uddin won the Portfolio Award for "Secret Worlds," images of slime moulds. Tony Wu won Under Water with "Making Morays," documenting Abbott's moray eel mating. Aaron Sanders won Animal Portraits with "A Watchful Eye," a common octopus off southwest England. Alex Lindbloom won Oceans: The Bigger Picture with "Night-Time Catch," a whale shark near a fishing platform. Agorastos Papatsanis won Plants and Fungi with "Shedding Light," mushrooms under UV light. Sitaram Raul won Behaviour: Invertebrates with "Shifting Sand," a scorpion burrowing in the Thar Desert. Michał Michalski won Natural Artistry with "Escape Artistry," blurred birds against birches. Alex Visbal won Wetlands: The Bigger Picture with "The Great Divide," documenting a wetland's decline and subsequent conservation management in Utah.
