Badger snap wins over public in vote for wildlife photographer of the year

A badger captured glancing up at graffiti in East Sussex has won over the public vote for Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

The shot – taken by British photographer Ian Wood – came in first for the people’s choice award this year, beating 25 shortlisted images, the Natural History Museum said.

A record 76,000 votes from across the world were counted to find the winner this year, it added.

Four other highly commended images also impressed wildlife lovers, including Francisco Negroni’s photo of a double lenticular cloud over the Villarrica volcano in Chile, and Jess Findlay’s action shot of a ghostly barn owl exiting through the hayloft window of a derelict barn.

David Northall’s snap of a honey badger returning to finish off a Cape porcupine, and Michel d’Oultremont’s photo of a stoat sitting up to observe its territory across a snowy landscape in Belgium also won over voters.

The people’s choice shortlist was selected from nearly 60,000 entries to this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

The contest’s 100 winning images, which were chosen by a panel of international experts, were announced in October.

Dr Douglas Gurr, the museum’s director, said: “Ian’s flawlessly timed image offers a unique glimpse of nature’s interaction with the human world, underscoring the importance of understanding urban wildlife.

“His exceptional photograph serves as a powerful reminder that local nature and wildlife, often just outside our homes, can inspire and captivate us.”

The winning image was captured after St Leonards-on-Sea residents started leaving food scraps on the pavement for foxes.

Mr Wood saw that badgers from a nearby sett were also coming to forage.

Seeing one walking along the pavement by his wall one night, he set up a small hide on the edge of the road to capture the animal reaching for food, illuminated only by light from a lamppost.

The photographer said that winning the award has been “truly humbling” but also highlighted the “darker side” to the image as he called for an end to badger culling in the UK, which aims to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

“I live in rural Dorset where I’m on a re-wilding mission to enhance habitats for a huge array of wildlife,” he said.

“The badger cull – which is still ongoing – has decimated their numbers and I fear that unless the cull is stopped, we’ll only see badgers in urban settings in several parts of England.

“My hope is for this image to raise awareness of the damaging effect of the badger cull and help push for change.”

The five people’s choice images will be displayed both online and on the interactive voting screens in the flagship exhibition at the Natural History Museum until June 29.