Photography: Wildlife Photography Shots Of 2022

Urban Wildlife Winner: House of bears. Kolyuchin Island, Chukotka, Russia. In the Chukchi Sea region, the normally solitary bears usually migrate further north in the summer, following the retreating sea ice they depend on for hunting seals, their main food.

Invertebrates Winner: The big buzz. South Texas, USA. The world’s bees are under threat from habitat loss, pesticides and climate change. With 70% of bee species nesting underground, it is increasingly important that areas of natural soil are left undisturbed.

Amphibians and Reptiles Winner: The bat-snatcher. Kantemo, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Every evening at sundown in the Cave of the Hanging Snakes, thousands of bats leave for the night’s feeding. It is also when hungry rat snakes emerge, dangling from the roof to snatch their prey in midair.

Trick or tragedy?. Cuba and the U.S. Owners and birds have strong relationships, but there can be a dark side to the trade, with some birds being taken from the wild and stored and trafficked in inhospitable conditions.

Photojournalism winner: Ndakasi’s passing. Senkwekwe Center, Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Stirton photographed Ndakasi’s rescue as a 2-month-old after her troop was brutally killed by a charcoal mafia as a threat to park rangers. Ndakasi laid in the arms of her rescuer and caregiver of 13 years, ranger Andre Bauma.

Bear bonanza. Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. When the salmon arrive in summer, so do the bears. Though they are usually solitary, they congregate in large numbers to fish.