A photograph capturing a mother elephant mourning her dead calf has earned Federico Veronesi the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. Veronesi snapped the poignant image, titled “The Aftermath,” while observing elephants in Namibia’s Huab River Valley. The photograph, which also won the Behavior: Mammals category, portrays an adult female elephant with her calf’s leg caught between her tusk and trunk.
Chair of the 2026 competition jury, Kathy Moran, praised the photo for its emotional impact and intellectual significance, noting its portrayal of animal cognition. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, hosted by the Natural History Museum in London, aims to raise awareness of environmental issues through nature storytelling. This year saw a record 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories.
Among the winners was Oscar Whitfield, a young British photographer who clinched the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title with a striking image of a dung beetle laboring away. Canadian photographer Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, though not a category winner, received the Rising Star Award for his captivating photo capturing a robber fly preying on a flesh fly.
The exhibition, featuring 100 photos, will showcase four “highly commended” works by Canadians, including Shane Gross. The display is set to open at the Natural History Museum in London this week, with subsequent showings at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria.
The competition also recognized other outstanding entries, such as Amelie Davis’ snapshot of a common carder bee and Anton Sorokin’s image of a California newt guarding its eggs. Agorastos Papatsanis’ vibrant photo of fluorescent bonnet mushrooms and James Lewin’s captivating shot of a bull elephant spraying water on zebras also garnered accolades in their respective categories.