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Powerful Photo of a Mother Elephant Carrying Dead Calf Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The black-and-white image was chosen from a record 65,403 entries and highlights researchers’ view that elephants may show grief around death.
- Italian photographer Federico Veronesi won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year title for "The Aftermath," capturing a female elephant carrying a dead calf in Namibia's Huab River Valley.
- The competition received a record-breaking 65,403 entries from 121 countries and territories, organized annually by the Natural History Museum, London.
- Jury chair Kathy Moran called the photograph "emotionally a gut punch, heartbreakingly poignant," while researchers suggest the behavior may indicate elephants understand or grieve death.
- The winning images will be showcased at the Natural History Museum starting Friday, October 16, 2026, running until July 11, 2027, before embarking on a U.K. and international tour.
- Museum director Dr. Doug Gurr noted the collection demonstrates the "extraordinary power of wildlife photography," while British photographer Oscar Whitfield won the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title with a dung beetle image.
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The Museum of Natural History of London has made public the images of its prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, which has fallen into a difficult photograph: an elephant carrying her deceased calf in her trunkA heron fishing, brunettes out of the water or rattlesnake: the best nature images of this 2025 The Museum of Natural History of London has presented the finalist images of its iconic Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest…
·Madrid, Spain
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The IndependentReposted by 
The Independent (US)
The Independent (US)'Heartbreakingly poignant' shot of dead elephant calf nets Wildlife Photographer win
Other winning images include fluorescent fungi and a Sisyphus-like dung beetle
·London, United Kingdom
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Deeply moving black-and-white photograph crowned as the year's best wildlife image might teach us about an elephant's journey towards understanding death
An image of a female elephant carrying her deceased calf wins the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, captured in Huab River Valley, Damaraland, Namibia
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