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A dancing stoat , a jaguar ’s killing blow to a caiman and a colourful David Bowie spider are among the stalker peek of arresting images selected by this yr ’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year panel .

For 2024 ’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year challenger , which is celebrating its 60th anniversary , London ’s Natural chronicle Museumdrew a book - break 59,228 unveiling from photographers of all ages across 117 countries .

Jaguar biting crocodile head.

A jaguar clamping down on a caiman in Brazil is one of the images highly commended by award judges.

The images were anonymously judged by a instrument panel found on their creativity , originality and technical excellence , fit in to the competition organizers .

The winner in each category will be announced on Oct. 8 , and 100 of the competition ’s best pic will be exhibited at London ’s Natural History Museum from Oct. 11 .

Twist and jump

Jose Manual Grandío camped out in below - zero temperatures at Athose , in France ’s Bourgogne - Franche - Comté region , to capture this stoat leap into the line above fresh snowfall .

The display , which Grandío date as an " expression of exuberance , " splits scientists as to its motivations — with some saying it is an attempt to obscure prey and others saying it is the result of a parasitical contagion . yet , the demeanour is refer to as dancing .

Going with the floe

Tamara Stubbs was sailing on a nine - week expedition to Antarctica ’s Weddell Sea when she spotted these crabeater seal of approval napping beside her ship . These two — among some four million seals of their species in the Antarctic — had bobbed to the surface to take a deeper breath , their nostril crown poked above the water ’s open .

Hooked

Tommy Trenchard was travel on the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise in the South Atlantic Ocean when he snapped this blastoff of a dirge shark being catch accidentally by a ship fishing for swordfish and tuna . The shark , its trunk twirl in a final motion of defiance , is among 80 million sharks snatched from the existence ’s oceans each year — a practice which has caused shark population to plummet and place three - quarters of all shark mintage at risk of infection of extinction .

Moonlight Hunter

Xingchao Zhu give chase a chemical group of Pallas cats across the frozen plateau of Inner Mongolia during February 2023 ’s Chinese New Year to capture this pellet . take just before dawn , Xingchao ’s pellet shows a Pallas cat making eye contact as it abduct a small bird .

Ziggy Spider

Lam Soon Tak was trekking across the highlands of Malaysia when he encountered this David Bowie spider clinging to some broken outgrowth beside a river . Named by its discoverer and David Bowie fan Dr Peter Jäger in 2008 due to the Ziggy Stardust - like marking on its heading , the spider is clutching a bright white ballock theca in its jaws .

Deadly Bite

Ian Ford was in Brazil ’s Pantanal wetland when a call over the radio alarm him to a panther prowling the banks of a São Lourenço River tributary . Kneeling in his boat , Ford was at the perfect location to snap the crowing cat delivering a skull - shatter sting to the back of a yacare caiman ’s head .

In the Spotlight

Shreyovi Mehta was walking in Keoladeo National Park , India with her parents when she saw this scene . After go back to her pa to collect her camera and rest down on the ground , she bust this shot from a low slant — two peafowl that had exited the specter at the day ’s close to search for food in the clearing .

As Clear as Crystal

Jason Gulley was swim in Florida ’s Crystal River when he came upon this scene , a mother manatee floating in the flow with her calf , bubbles dog from its flippers .

Stormy Scene

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William Fortescue was in Tanzania ’s Serengeti National Park when he snapped this shaft — a female lion break off an attempt by a male lion to match with a warning from her powerful jaw . The backcloth of billowing storm clouds — brewing during the parking area ’s rainy time of year — adds to the brooding atmosphere of the view .

Wildlife Photography of the Year is developed and farm by the Natural History Museum , London

Jumping stoat looks like is is leaping for joy above snowy ground.

Two seals swimming amongst chunks of ice.

A shark out of the sea close to a large vessel after accidentally being caught.

A cat faces the camera in front of the moon.

Orange fuzzy spider holding on to a plant on either side of its legs

A jaguar faces the camera as it holds a bite on the head of a crocodile in shallow water.

Trees cover over a tunnel like space, in the distance is a silhuoette of two water birds lit up by the dawn/dusk sun

A manatee and a baby manatee amongst long sea grass.

A male and a female lion face each other with a growling look.

a tiger looks through a large animal�s ribcage

A male of the peacock spider species Maratus jactatus, lifts its leg as part of a mating dance.

Eye spots on the outer hindwings of a giant owl butterfly (Caligo idomeneus).

A woman in a hide using a camera and telephoto lens

Screenshot from a video of a family of four snow leopards prowling through the snow in the mountains of northern Pakistan.

a wispy white spiral galaxy seen in front of hundreds of background stars

a reconstruction of an early reptile

a hoatzin bird leaping in the air with blue sky background

Two young lions (Panthera leo) in the Masai Mara National Park in Kenya.

Closeup of an Asian needle ant worker carrying prey in its mouth on a wooden surface.

Photo shows an egg hatching out of a �genital pore� in a snail�s neck.

side-by-side images of a baboon and a gorilla

Fragment of a stone with relief carving in the ground

An illustration of microbiota in the gut

an illustration of DNA

images showing auroras on Jupiter

An image of the Eagle Nebula, a cluster of young stars.