The "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" contest, presented by the Natural History Museum in London, returns for its 61st edition, with curators showing audiences a sneak peek of some of the best photographs of nature.
Selected from more than 60,000 entries, the curated exhibit will spotlight "100 inspiring and powerful images" from the natural world. The photos were selected anonymously by an international panel of expert judges across wildlife photography, filmmaking, science and conservation, based "on their creativity, originality and technical excellence," the museum said in an Aug. 27 news release.
The museum said entries were submitted by "some of the finest emerging young wildlife photographers, some as young as nine years old."
Natural History Museum London Director Dr. Doug Gurr said in a statement that contest organizers "are thrilled to continue Wildlife Photographer of the Year as a powerful platform for visual storytelling, showing the diversity, beauty and complexity of the natural world and humanity's relationship to it."
Striking images from the collection include "a dramatic stand-off between a lion and a cobra," photographed by Gabriella Comi at Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, "a portrait of an inquisitive pack of Arctic wolves" by Amit Eshel and an aerial photograph of a wild elephant scavenging through a large waste dump in Sri Lanka by Lakshitha Karunarathna.
