Ndakasi’s Death in Ranger’s Arms Receives Wildlife Award

When the annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition rolls around, there’s always (at least) one image of a species we had never seen before. In this year’s competition – the 58th by the UK’s Natural History Museum – that animal is the houbara of the Canary Islands.

José Juan Hernández Martinez of Spain captured the houbara's fluffy courtship display by moonlight, just as the bird's took a quick break from his frenzied come-hither performance.

A group of flamingos – sorry, a flamboyance of flamingos – made for a gorgeous, almost surreal tableau against the bluest of skies. Junji Takasago’s shot is a worthy winner in the Natural Artistry category.

There is no shortage of nature-tooth-and-claw shots, not easy to look at for the squeamish. Would you perch near the opening of Mexico’s “Cave of the Hanging Snakes” to wait for a Yucatán rat snake to pounce on one of the thousands of bats that fly out at sundown? Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar did, and was rewarded with a dramatic mid-air strike-and-eat. (Intriguing fact: Neither the snake nor the bat can see.)

The Photojournalism award went to South Africa’s Brent Stirton, who documented the death of a mountain gorilla named Ndakasi. Ranger Andre Bauma had rescued Ndakasi as a two-month old in 2007, orphaned by the brutal “charcoal mafia,” an illegal militia that terrorizes the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For 13 years, Bauma cared for the creature. Stirton captured Ndakasi’s last night on Earth, which she passed in Bauma’s arms. .

Peruse the full gallery here.